


Where I Hide

by Bunnii



Series: Where I Hide [1]
Category: No Fandom, Original Work, THEN ALL OF YOU WILL PERISH, The fandom that no one will know of until MY BOOK IS PUBLISHED
Genre: Aliens, Book - Freeform, Lots of aliens - Freeform, Original Character(s), Original Universe, Original work - Freeform, Other, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-29
Updated: 2015-05-20
Packaged: 2018-02-19 06:13:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2377802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bunnii/pseuds/Bunnii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Delilah Weylin is a teenager who was blamed for the fiery death of her parents, although she thinks that it was caused by a voice that had been following her for her whole life. She has casually named it 'The Voice'. She lives with her cousin Toby. She's thought to be crazy and dangerous. From a very rough instance of being bullied off school grounds, she found herself within a separate dimension, filled with aliens that have also had contact with the Voice. Now, her and Z'in, must find a way to get back home and fix all the wrong that is going on within this place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

You see the lights, the cars, and the people of /her/ city. You don’t see her, this special girl, Delilah, nor the people around her. You hear the rumors of Delilah, the stories of what she's done, the lies of Delilah's past… Mostly, you hear the sounds of a busy city, or the sound of the small town ring, depending on where you look. 

Delilah hears these normal things too, but one thing that she hears that you will never hear, is her cries for the truth and the Voice, as she's so innocently named it. It’s the same voice that lulled her asleep at night when her parents, Jane and Weston, weren't home. They were out in the town where young kids can't go, or working their oh so important jobs that Delilah never figured out what they were, exactly. The Voice is the same one that told her she's important when her parents didn't. It’s the same one that told her that she had power, even at such a young age.

The only reason why Delilah doesn't listen to this Voice, is because nobody else in her life listens to her. Her parents don’t believe her tales of a Voice inside her head, and if anything, Delilah regrets telling them. Now her parents worry about their child’s mental health, the wonderful little Delilah who grew up so quiet and shy. They worry they've done something wrong, maybe they've ignored her, so now she's making up friends. The Voice tells her this, but it also tells her that it's far from made up. Of course, she doesn't hate her parents because of this seeding distrust, and she doesn't feel as if they've done her wrong in their small time of raising her. Delilah is only a child, a special, small, child.  
As time went on, the Voice started to show her things. Her mind developed a lot more quickly than other children her age. Her school work was more accurate, her skills improved, and she matured faster, creating a social block between her and her classmates. The Voice told Delilah not to speak of it to the other young ones. They wouldn't 'understand your worth', Delilah would hear. 

Her parent's worry increased, making them cautious about what they may have done. They began asking her about this ‘Voice’ that she heard so often, only feigning interest to constantly test their daughter's sanity. They asked what it would say to her. Delilah always replied with variants of ‘kind things. Things others don’t know.’ When her parents tried to pry into that knowledge further, the Voice told her not to say. So Delilah didn't. 

As she aged even more, now nearing puberty, her parents thought it best for them to not pry and continually freshen and humor the idea of that ‘Voice’. This growing girl began to think she was a bit more than just different. She thought that maybe something was wrong with herself. 

She never brought anything of it back up, but she just loved being told she was special. Her parents never said it anymore. 

More time passed, allowing Delilah to simply adjust to her own mind, and try not to worry about what others thought of it. Although she felt fine and confident about her future, the Voice didn't have the same views. 

When she was just at the start of double digits in age, the Voice warned Delilah. It said to stay away from the flame, but of course, this young teen couldn't understand. It woke her up at night, causing her to scream about fire oh so suddenly in the darkest hour. Her parents had long forgotten the Voice, and having to wake up abruptly to the sound of their only child screaming about non-existent fires frightened them.

For a few years, Delilah attempted to be that special girl to her parents once more. She tried to cradle the idea of the Voice to her parents again, seeing how that was the cause of her sudden outbursts. She was older now. She thought she could get more liability and trust from her words. It was useless, though. Her parents sent her to do tests, things she didn't find necessary. She was only trying to be honest and trusted by her parents. 

A lot of doctors came and went, shaking their heads to the results which showed shockingly nothing. A lot of therapists came and went, shaking a finger to her retreating answers of 'I don't know' and 'I'm scared'. A lot of friends came and went, shaking her heart to its core as they teased her. 

Nobody believed her, she realized. Nobody heard the Voice but herself, she learned. She secluded into fear, ignoring this Voice that caused so many problems. She rejected the idea of her being ‘powerful’ and ‘important’. She shrank to the thought of people being around her, coming anywhere near her, with the same distrust and worry as her parents had. 

She was turning into an adult soon, but she was still treated like the not-so-special child she's become. She was still young and naive when the flame arrived, the flame that the Voice warned her about all those years ago. 

She woke up at 3 in the morning and walked outside of her inner-city home. She didn't know why, it was madness to go out in a nightgown. It was madness that she didn't see the column of smoke behind her, or hear the crackling roar of the end to all she knew. All she heard was the Voice telling her to leave, telling her that her power has been shown. All she saw now were red and blue lights, flashing in front of her. People she didn't know ran past her, and into the remains of the house. 

When she finally turned around, Delilah saw her home as the giant torch it now is;  
The only light in her life now being put out by the herd of men around her. She couldn't even bring herself to cry.  
She knew, even then, she knew her parents were in there, and that they wouldn't be coming out. As she stared at the dwindling flame, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It averted her attention to a familiar face, which came to flash beside her. 

It was the kind, round face of her cousin Toby, her babysitter for many a year. He had a horrified look on his face as he patted Delilah down to check for injuries. “Oh my God… Come on –how are you not hurt? - I have to get you away from here…” The chief waved a hand, allowing Toby to leave with Delilah. She would only have one parent in her life now, and that was Toby.

That night was five years ago. She’s seventeen now, more of an adult than ever. 

Delilah Weylin, the girl no one knew until April 4th, 2013, in the Kansas city of Wichita. News travels fast here, no matter how many hills or walls it hits. Her name was on the news, which almost everyone watched. She’s the girl who was taken to the police station several times during the next few months after the incident, and it would be more if not for Toby. She’s the girl who was blamed for the death of Mr. and Mrs. Weylin. She was a minor then, so they could only do so much, but it felt to be too much for little Delilah.  
The therapy sessions hardened her instead of broke her down to the 'truth'. All the court visits never solved the mystery to her past. No matter who talked to her, the only thing Delilah heard was hurtful accusations. 

After that night, the one and only supportive person in her life was that kind face, Toby. He stood beside her in every therapy session, every court visit and almost every conversation. There were still things that even he, let alone herself, could help ease.

Being this girl, enduring these feelings for as long as Delilah has, she goes to the only people who she can truly share her seclusion and troubles - the characters in a book. She escapes the daily drum of insults that are relentlessly pelted on her from the big-town high school she unfortunately went to. The insults really wouldn’t be so bad if they weren't true, or didn’t suggest the murder of her parents, Delilah thinks. Insults like ‘pyro’ and ‘hot-head’. Sure she had smooth, shoulder-length orange hair, but she resented it. She dyes her hair constantly and tried to keep it up in a bun, almost bob-cut style when she trims it, but it always comes back full length and vibrant by the end of the month. The ruthless bullies always make fun of her for trying to hide her hair. So Delilah shut them out, as always. She's getting used to this treatment, as pathetic as that is.

Any time she can, she allowed time to tick away for her as she immersed herself in someone elses story, someone elses solution. Oh, how Delilah wished she could have the happy ending these people got, and being able to have the strength to go through all the pain of losing people, battles, and facing fears. Even if she’s already gone through her troubles, it isn’t a progressive venture. It’s a stand-still, a constant jab at her confidence. 

Although she prefers to be left alone to heal and brood, there is one trait she carries deep within her. It's so deep she can't quite reach control over it. 

This wild trait conflicts with her desire to end it all – Her complete incompetence to give up. Toby has told her that she's always had that. He watched her grow up, from her persistent infancy, the toddler fall-and-bounce back, the child who refused to be a criminal, and now the teen who listens to no one against her. No. One.  
Toby finds it almost uplifting and proud that such a hard-headed girl gives him such respect as a parent should receive. 

To be honest though, Toby isn’t the best guardian ever, but he cares about Delilah much more than anything else. Delilah knows this. She also knows that he's in a bad spot for parenthood anyway, being a 28 year old, socially awkward (with anyone but Delilah) fireman’s apprentice. He’s never been able to pass that final test, so the income is low. He takes odd jobs around the town to get more money, if he's lucky enough to get a client who doesn't know who he's related to.

So here he stays, just like now, sitting in their covered garden with Delilah and a notebook for doodling, a simple pastime that they share, as well as many other things.  
“Whatcha reading, Del?” Toby asked, not liking the quiet.  
“A book.” Delilah remarks.  
Toby scoffs at the sarcasm. “I'll take it and make you lose your spot.” 

“Hey!” Delilah laughs, then answers Toby with a simple description of her reading material. “It’s about aliens. Kind of, like, a similar story of Nine, that movie?” Delilah didn’t watch movies often, but she’s seen enough posters in Toby’s room and previews late at night to talk about it.

Toby nods, scratching a couple lines onto the little dinosaur he was drawing. “Oh okay, not like I expected any different. What’s up with your sudden interest in E.T. rip-offs, huh?” Toby asks, only half-jokingly. 

Delilah flips her foot over, lightly punting at Toby's leg for his question. “They’re not rip-offs! I like to call them ‘versions’. A book is just a story, and I tend to enjoy ones about stuff like aliens.” She held up a finger defensively. “But the E.T. movie freaked me out! If it was a book, and if I read the book first, I would be able to tolerate it... But that freaky noodle-necked thing is stained in my mind!”

Toby laughs, continuing his doodle. Silence falls. Delilah tried to read more but lost track on her page, so she huffs and sticks a worn bookmark in the space provided. She was bored of that one anyway. Instead, Delilah returns to her own tale. 

The Voice doesn’t talk to her anymore, she's noticed. Ever since the fire, Delilah feels that the Voice has done its job. Sure, it saved her life, but why couldn’t it save her parents too? Why couldn’t it wake her up sooner, and let her warn them? Since she could never respond to the Voice, she guessed that she would never know. She liked living with Toby, but she loved her parents, no matter how crazy they thought she was, and they loved Delilah too. They only wanted what was best. 

‘What was it? It was obviously not just me, I mean… What would be the point? It warned me about the fire. I couldn’t do that myself. It made me wake up all those nights. I couldn’t be crazy, it has to be something else. What was it?!’ Delilah thought, her eyes scanning over the petunias and small bushes around them. 

Even though she’d been living with the Voice all her life, she still wanted to know what, or who, was behind it. Was it really just her imagination? Or did someone know telepathy? Was someone just messing with her? So many questions, no way to find answers… Delilah always thought, the more questions there are, the better the adventures are. 'Who am I kidding? I can't go anywhere. The best I can do is Google it.' Delilah thought. 

It may be sad, but she indeed has Googled it. The only thing she ever got, was a bunch of half-finished forums with confused and insulting adults, conspiracy theorist blogs, and a lot of ads for mental health. Thanks, Google.

She did find a lot of mention of aliens, though. Regardless of what she tells Toby, that's why she's reading these books - as well as stuff about the brain - just to try and find something. She was fascinated by the human mind and outer space, really. Delilah had been developing a small theory from the two subjects with her situation. 'I remember reading something like... Humans can only come up with what we've seen or experienced. I was super young when the Voice talked to me, so where would I have gotten that? Some trail of frequencies spilling into my subconscious? There must be an outside force, right..?' 

The glass above the two started to tint, making Delilah's eyes go weird since she wasn't paying attention. It was a school night anyway, and Delilah hadn’t done her homework yet. Toby picked up on her thoughts as he stood. “Come on Del, we gotta go inside. We’re supposed to have a storm tonight.” Toby said, putting his notebook up. 

Delilah nodded and they walked the length of the atrium to the end, big leaves and untended tendrils reaching to them. A pair of French doors almost covered in ivy welcomed them into the large home, inherited to Toby after their grandfather, Carl Weylin, passed. 

Photos adorned the wall, full of smiling faces that don’t smile anymore. Cabinets hold plates never used, and trinkets never admired. Toby and Delilah never really had many guests, reason being that most family is far away and for other obvious reasons. Living in such a large house with so many things makes you get use to fancy living quarters. It was more of a functional home rather than a decorative home, anyway. Everything had its purpose. It just took a while to figure it out, as they've learned. Their grandfather always had odd ways of doing things.

Delilah and Toby went separate ways in the dining room, with a simple ‘goodnight’. Toby went to the right, rounded the large dining table and down a flight of stairs that lead to the living room. He always watches TV before going to bed, he says it helps him sleep. Delilah slowed to a halt, and stood there to convey where she was.

She always liked this room. There was a lot you could look at. It kept you busy, in a sense, with so many things like its ornate linings, the lacy drapes, the many different collectables in the cabinets. The table in the middle filled a lot of the space provided, as well as the few large furnishings. The cabinets, large and holding so many things, have no chance of ever moving again. 

She remembers this house from when she was young, and when her grandfather was still alive. She also remembers when these things were used. Family reunion, her grandfather being the host. Many people she didn't know, but apparently knew her, shuffling around each other, friendly arm pats and the laughter of a distant uncle in the kitchen. She wondered what he found so funny. Then, there was her mother setting the table and even letting Delilah help with the silverware. Her grandfather taught her the 'proper' way to set your dishes. She thought it was silly. She still does. The faces and laughter are nothing but a blur in her vision now as her mind replays it over and over.

Soon, after her daydream was over, Delilah turned and crossed to the other staircase in the room, leading upwards. Beside it is the entrance to the same uncle-bearing kitchen, a simple walkway. There wasn’t a door, there hadn't been one for a while. That kitchen had never been used by Delilah or Toby, by her grandfathers wish, oddly enough. She glanced into it as she passed, looking at the empty counter tops and dark corners of broken cabinets. It gathered dust over the years, and it wasn't so pretty now. Toby has been meaning to board it up. 

Delilah walked past it, going up the staircase to her room. 

It was a short flight, but once she got to the top, she was on the third (and second to top) floor. It was her room, Toby's room and a few other empty ones that occupied this level. She walks down the hall, the carpeted floor padding her footsteps, and opens a simple brown door with her name on it in oddly cute bold font. She begged Toby to replace the door from the previous overly decorated one. She remembers that it swung like a crane, slow and heavy. 

She walks into a normal teenager’s room, much different than the rest of the house. No ridiculous wall coverings, no thick curtains, no intriguing paint jobs, just a simple sky blue enclosure with posters of attractive people, clips of magazines, a calendar or two and a large television for video games. It was a simple room. Perfect for her.

For a while now, she's had a small habit of looking out her window a lot. She climbed up onto her bed after crossing the room, which was positioned in front of a wide and short window, jutting out from a shelf. Toby always told her not to sit on it, even though it looks like it could support her small frame. She listened nonetheless. Instead, she used it as her nightstand. It held a stack of books, her clock, a lamp, and many sticky notes. Delilah read somewhere that little notes were good for memory. She shook her head at the amount she's stocked on it and moved a couple of them off of the window panes to look outside. 

She looked out and down at her street with a soft smile. She felt safe here. No one knew where she lived, or at least didn't care, and there were no teenagers at all in her small city limit neighborhood. Only nice old people and young couples with children lived here. She's babysat quite a lot of them during summer. They're all sweethearts, honestly. Those are the children that will be nice and actually care for people when they grow up. 

She watched as the parents called in some of the children, letting them leave their toys, only to be picked right back up the next day. Delilah had a familiar pang in her chest, making her frown and bite her lip. One of these days, those toys won't be picked up anymore. She dropped hers long ago. She shook her head and huffed, turning around on her bed. She doesn't even remember what her old toys looked like anymore.

'You're a big girl now, Del. You don't need toys anymore. You have... You should have better things to do.' With a defiant and only somewhat confident nod, Delilah went to her desk, and began her homework. 

Cosines, angles, shapes, equations… The things that drummed in her mind constantly all put on a piece of paper. She turned on some music to help her get through it. Nothing with lyrics in it, though. She ends up writing the lyrics down instead of the answers. 

Once she finished, she put all her paper, pencils and books back in her bag. She clicked off the music so she could focus on sleeping after a long day of doing nothing – Thank everything for weekends - then flopped onto her bed. She didn’t bother changing out of her clothes, only caring to kick her shoes off.

She glared at the ceiling, dreading the next day already. It was supposed to be the 5th anniversary of her parents’ death, and it’s certain that reckless bullies will herd against Delilah to remind her of the pain. It's like a holiday to them. The investigation is still on, for some reason, and she is still the number one suspect. Can they really not find anything else? No oven fires, library mishaps? 

'...Did I even have a library?' She mentally shrugged, too tired and sluggish to make her body keep up.  
As she began to drift asleep, words and sounds occupied her mind. She was already too asleep to stop them or question them, so she had no choice but to allow the noise passage to her subconscious.

Regular, odd dreams crossed Delilah’s mind, nothing too weird. She was running through mashed up places she knew, passing people she may have seen, using dream logic to fly, and she could have sworn she saw her parents. The dream began to have a heavy feeling on her head as the mood changed from the blurry and trippy dream to more somber, clear and piercing events. 

Delilah saw a broken down building, at first. She was staring at it, unable to move. She hears hurried footfall and yelling behind her. Someone orders to her, ‘go through, go through!’ 

'Go through what?' She asks, her words falling into the space in front of her. She doesn’t move herself but somehow ends up behind a wall, looking through a hole back at the group of fussy people. They all looked angry and confused. ‘Where did she go?’ they ask each other. They disappeared before she could do anything, and Delilah was turned around, looking away from the hole, still with no control. 

A heat came up onto her face suddenly. Delilah was greeted by a large blockade of flames, in the shape of people, all seemingly laughing and taunting her. She screamed at them till her throat hurt, but she couldn’t hear herself. She could feel things crumbling on top of her, hear the crackling of wood burning. 

She closed her eyes in a panic, only to open them again to the sight of a freaked out Toby. She’s awake now.  
Toby sat there, holding her shoulders, slightly shaking. “Del, Del! What’s up, are you okay?!” He asked frantically. Delilah nodded, flames still surrounding her vision as she adjusted to the morning light. 

“Come on. It’s only 5, calm down. I know you’re scared about today Hun, trust me I am too, but you’ll be okay, I promise! Maybe more than okay. Maybe awesome! No one can remember the specific date for so many years, right? Come on, go ahead and start getting ready. You can take a nice loooong shower okay?” 

Delilah nodded again, closing her eyes. She didn't believe him. She knew they still remembered. As her eyes opened again, tears fell down her face. “Oh, God I didn’t know… What did I do?” Delilah asked. She wasn't really asking Toby anything, she was asking herself, the guilt of her history weighing down her sleep-induced mind frame. Toby didn't know this, and continued to answer normally.

“Well, I came in here because I kept hearing something, didn’t know what, I mean… Like, I came in here, and you were sitting up, so, you know, I thought you were awake. You weren’t you were just uh. Sitting there. You started pulling at your hair and just screamed when I came near you, then you threw a sucker punch! You almost hit me so I had to hold you down, sorry.” Toby shrugs, patting her shoulder. 

Delilah shakes her head, starting to wake up. “No, you’re fine. I’m sorry I almost hit you... I was having a bad dream.” Toby let go of her and sat beside her.  
“What about? Today?” Toby asked. She nodded, and then shrugged from doubt. 

“Well, I guess. People were chasing me. I somehow got into this weird, old looking building. I was looking through a really big hole at them. I don’t know how they didn’t see me. I was turned around and…” Tears started to fill her eyes again. “There was this huge f-fire, and…” Toby stroked her hair, not really knowing what to do.  
“It’s... hey, it’s alright! No, no don’t cry. There isn’t going to be a huge fire. If, uh if anything... Stay away from big, empty buildings. Alrighty?”  
Delilah didn’t speak immediately. She just backed up into Toby’s chest. “Can I please just not go to school?” She asked, knowing the answer.  
Toby groaned on cue, disappointed that he couldn't say yes. “No, you can’t stay. Sorry, Del. If it was up to me I’d say that I’d get you a tutor and help home school you but the stupid system won’t let me. They say you need 'proper education and supervision'. I guess if that includes major bullying and unneeded punishments then dam-uh-dang, right?” Delilah giggled and nodded.  
“You can cuss around me, you know that, right?” She said, her tears drying. 

Toby smiled and tapped his temple, pausing a bit because it didn't hit the helmet he wears to work. “Yeah... but I’d rather not. I get yelled at from the chief when I cuss, so I have to make it a good habit.” Delilah nodded approvingly, glad that Toby is trying to be good. She knows he'd do anything for the chief, or at least anything to pass the test. 

Toby reaches up and looks at his watch. It’s now 5:13am. “Hey, go ahead and get in the shower, I’ll get breakfast set up.” Delilah nodded and rolled out of bed, following Toby down to the second floor. 

She went down the lower stairs from the dining room and into the living room. This room is the one that tricks people; it makes them think it's just a regular house, more or less. The actual room itself is on a small elevated area, with a nice bay window overlooking their neatly trimmed front yard. To the left, from the bottom of the stairs where Delilah stands, is a hallway with two offices and a bathroom. Beside the stairs is an opening which goes into the in-use kitchen. Yes, two kitchens. Delilah didn't find anything wrong or different with that, by now. In front of the kitchen is a smaller staircase to the front door, and access to the basement, which is just a dusty, empty wine cellar.

Toby went into the kitchen, letting Delilah pass to the bathroom. They always multitask in the mornings, doing all kinds of things at once. She enjoyed their little system, the way they can weave in and out of each others paths. It's a small quirk that Delilah appreciates. 

She quickly undressed and got in the shower, standing under the water.  
In her books, it's always so normal for characters to do this. Just to sit under the tap and think. Think. Thinking is a big part of anything the protagonist does, but... Delilah just can't seem to do it. She's too boggled. Too run down. Too fed up. 

She hums in thought, the sound blending into the rush of water. 'Is that normal too? To feel those things? To feel too scared of everything, and too scared of nothing? I think it is.' She hopes it is, at least. If not, then maybe she really is crazy. 

She jolted, spraying water across the curtain as she was startled by something. She didn't understand what it was, exactly.

A feeling suddenly flushed, such confidence, such emotion. She saw images of her over coming everything filling her mind. Everyone who ever hurt her leaving her alone, respecting her, not blaming her. She saw a scene of police finding a reason for her parents death, and apologizing for everything. Everything. Every bit of pain and doubt ever seeded into her. New seeds started to spread in this moment.

This burst of energy... It's so familiar. She turned off the water and slowly got dressed again, not wanting to scare this... Thing, away, then looked into the mirror. Her hair was wet, dark burgundy now, pulled back on her head and down her neck. Water dripped from her eyelashes and into the sink below her. Her clothes spotted with damp areas from not being dried properly. She looked normal. She didn't see the acclaimed fire in her eyes, no creased brow, no ideas just bursting from her skull. Her insides deceived her.  
'This isn't right. Something is different.' Delilah thought. She closed her eyes, mentally looking around. She saw this idea online once – Exploring her thoughts, all put into a 'mind palace' as it was called. She had an excellent photographic memory, and her ideas often formed small clips, which she's learned to harness. She could mentally walk through Times Square, if she knew what it looked like personally.

Instead, something a bit more close to home happened. Her dream came back to her. She tried to ignore it and just focus on her thoughts, but her thoughts seemed to lead her to this dream.

'The hole in the wall...' She thought.  
She mapped out her movements, feeling the scrape of old concrete against her knees as she flopped into it, huddling beneath it. She doesn't know why she was acting and feeling so scared. When she began to hear the doubt and confusion in her pursuers voices, she lifted, peeking out from the opening. She could see their faces! Yes, those were the group of boys who called her pyro. Freak. Murderer. 

She flinched each time they turned toward her hiding spot, but they never saw her. Not one looked her in the eye. She even stood, her upper half fully visible. Still nothing? Delilah shook her head mentally, seeing her followers shake side to side realistically. 'Remember, this is just a dream. Of course they can't see you!' 

She was brought back to her mind-travels as this feeling increased, the scenery of what looks like a forest and some old forgotten trails defining themselves. She's never seen this place before, she notes. She refuses to go through woods, so that's probably why. 

The feeling spurred back, deep within her, hitting that confidence that saved her so many times. She began thinking about how talented her mind really was, how she's prepared and trained it to be so precise. She can take a dream and walk right through it, and she believes that's rare. 

Delilah triumphantly turned around, with a proud smile on both her real face and imagined one. She stepped forward, now in a completely new area. It was dark, and she could only think she saw items and walls, but she wasn't sure. 

She heard a sound by her ear. A small pop. What? 'Oh no, this is where the fire was!' She thought anxiously. Delilah debated opening her eyes, but she stopped herself calmly.  
She grinned slightly, encouraging herself again. 'No, let's see where this goes.' She doesn't have to see the fire. This is her dream. Her talented mind. 

The sensation of being on top of the world grew within her. She felt like she should know this place. Familiar shapes started to form, even though she suspected they really weren't familiar at all. It was dark, but she could tell she was in a type of hallway. A really big one, at that. She thinks it's nicely decorated, but she can't tell because it's so dim. 

As she tries to focus, the feeling suddenly drops, the view she had breaking apart at the seams. The hallway dimmed further, turning into the back of her eyes, completely evading her. Damn it! She had something going there. 

She opened her eyes again. She was still just standing there in her own home, her own bathroom. No forests nor suspicious hallways. As she was coming down from her mental journey, she felt her shoulders shaking, and her hands were in pain. It came from her fingers. Ouch, she was gripping the sink! 

'Geez, calm down. A little suspense is always nice. You never complain when you find some in a book.' She thought, lightly scolding herself.  
She shook her head, silently putting it in the past. It's not like she hasn't done those things before. Delilah remembers plenty of dreams similar to that, the theme of being chased into a dark room. That must be why all that was familiar. The human mind really is a weird place. 

She finished up her routine, drying and brushing her hair, then went into the kitchen just on time. Toby turned around with two plates of eggs and pancakes and a goofy grin. “I found the syrup, finally! It was practically lodged in the top shelf there. Too bad you're short, or else I'd just tell you to get it.” 

She smiled at him sweetly as she sat down. “I'd chuck it at you sooner than that.” Toby laughed, sitting down with her at the small table they shared. It just wouldn't make sense using the antique upstairs, it might get messy. It's too big for just the two of them anyway. 

Between bites, Toby looked up at her questioningly. “Do you want me to take you to school? I can at least spare you the bus, if you want.” She nodded eagerly. God, she hated that contraption. The bus driver shoots forward before you even get your bearings. The seats are uncomfortable and people she doesn't know are always sitting beside her, jumping and smacking each other, occasionally hitting her. It was like taking the kindergarten bus.

It was agreed by the two that she'd stay just a bit longer. It was pure satisfaction when she heard the bus drive off past her house. She sat on the living room sofa, grinning as it passed by. 'Ha. No crusty twinkie for me today.'


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

The satisfaction was short lived, unfortunately. 

She was able to relax and finish her breakfast. She got dressed in the clothes she wanted, a tank top and a hoodie that Toby gave her a while ago that covered her thighs. It was a size or two bigger than her, but it was comfortable and simple. She also had some jean shorts, the pockets stuffed with the usual: MP3 and headphones.

She sat on the couch until Toby was ready. When he descended the stairs and jingled the keys, she knew that her horrid day had officially started. There was no sense in denying that once she stepped on the cracked and weed-littered sidewalk of old Kansas Community High School, she was fair game. She sucked it up and lifted from her comfortable spot to follow Toby down the steps to the front yard. 

She heard the squeak and click as the storm door struggled to close behind them. Delilah couldn't help but think it had locked her out for the day, denying safety. Toby doesn't think it sounds like that, but then again, he's not trapped by society like she is. 

They got into the car, a small navy blue truck that only had two and a half seats. The half was a tiny chair behind hers. She's sat in it a couple times and it's oddly amusing, but today they kept to their regular seats - her in front passenger and him in the drivers. 

After an increasingly stressful car ride, and fairly quiet one due to a broken radio, Toby pulled up in the car rider lane of her school. It was already filled with parents dropping off students who look half as dead as Delilah feels. Toby was rolling slowly as the line progressed, having a couple moments to just sit with her and give his last early condolences. 

“Hey, if anything happens, just call me okay? I don't have to work today and I'll make sure to keep my phone handy. Smack me real hard if I don't.” Toby smiled even more half-halfheartedly at her than normal. A half of a half. Isn't that encouraging...  
Delilah nodded none the less, with a little less than eager smile. “Yeah, I know. I'll keep that in mind.” 

She looked out the window, the car pulling right at the columns holding the cover above the doors. She took the few brave steps to actually get out of the car and waved behind her. Toby waved back and slowly drove off, keeping an eye on her. He probably would've stayed until she got inside, but other parents were honking at him rudely, scaring some of the freshmen. 

She shuddered, shouldering her book bag and taking a deep breath, giving herself a mental prep. 'You can do this. Just keep your head down and just don't say anything. Don't think. Don't do anything.' 

She hurried into the crowd, getting to her first period class. She was able to just sit and do nothing but read, thank everything for study hall. Even if someone breathed too loudly they were shushed by the stereotypically crusty old librarian. She was nice if you got to know her, and didn't mess up the books. Delilah had her good side for helping organize the books after school, once. 

Second period was a bit more tedious - math class. The first break in her system to be invisible occurred – She was the only one who did her homework. There was some attention. Damn. 

People gave her glares, and the teacher gave them right back as he took up Delilah's paper. She could just feel their thoughts. 'Eww. Hot head actually did things that doesn't suggest she committed a murder. Eww. She's trying to act like a normal girl.' 

Her chest rose along with these assumptions, the feeling from this morning returning in small waves. She glared back at anyone peering, silent insults filling her mind. 'Didn't your parents ever tell you not to keep a face for too long? It'll get stuck. Then the world would know how terrible you all are.' 

As quick as the feeling of resentment and power began, it flew away by the end of class, leaving her with a sense of vulnerability. She scurried out of the room as soon as the bell rang, blending into the crowd once more. She took another route to her next class to avoid others. She even covered her face with her books. 

Finally... She arrived to 3rd period, sitting in her usual back row place. The cold seat of English class. 'At least half of the day is already over. I could probably eat lunch outside...' She thought. 

Despite what she's told her teacher, she's been put in a group, a small cluster of desks. Ugh. It wasn't even near the teacher's desk, let alone it being the one group of people who would love to hurt her. 

Just like now! The little snobby chick in front of her keeps kicking her! She never liked her, even through her early elementary years. The guy beside the little kick-chick, the girl's boyfriend of only a week, kept tossing pieces of paper at her. They all said the same kind of thing. 4/4. Murder. Fire. Freak. She let them fall where they may, just trying to act like she's paying attention to the teachers PowerPoint about Shakespeare. 

When really, she was thinking. She remembered seeing this one coping method online, where every time someone bothers you, you mentally insult them in the most amusing and creative way possible. She always has a few stocked up.   
'Stop it, you dirty mailbox.'  
'You're not funny, you soggy lampshade.'   
'I don't deserve this, you broken half-wit!'

The feeling returned again, urging her on to do the opposite of her plan. When neither kick-chick nor rotten tomato were looking, maybe actually paying attention to the lesson, Delilah broke the second part of her little system. She took every bit of paper he threw at her and put them all in a big piece of paper and tossed it at him. To her amusement, it bounced off of him and his little girlfriend's heads. She tried not to laugh, but unfortunately... The teacher saw. Not only did she get a nasty glare from the teacher, but she knew that the girl was going to look for her after class. She always does.

The girl and boy toy stared at her, making Delilah extremely uncomfortable. They were whispering and laughing as they continued peering, blatantly talking about her. It was gut wrenching, honestly. She couldn't handle that for long.

Thankfully they got a workday and could sit wherever. As the two in front of her got up to move, the girl got in her face behind the teacher.   
“Just wait, little miss Disturbed, I'll make you choke on your lunch. You killed the people who brought you here, so you really shouldn't be here either, right?” The bitch sneered and giggled, hopping off with the Subordinate Sissy, who gave her a kiss. 

Delilah fumed and shook under her hoodie. It's like he's proud of her! 'I need to get out of here. I won't survive the rest of the day at this rate!'

She made sure to ask for a bathroom pass before this period was over. It's not like she really had to go, but she had to go. She stayed calm as she left, she didn't want to seem suspicious. She sighed once she got out and away, walking along the empty hallways, hearing the echoes of unheard lessons bounce off the hued walls. 

The school itself is actually pretty and well decorated, as Delilah saw over the three years here. The lockers were colored all different, very expressive, all in the schools colors, gold, red, and a type of blue. She never knew how to explain it. She didn't like the blue.

The lockers all passed by her as she walked, hands in pockets. The classrooms passed by, too. Also...  
Also the bathrooms. 

Where is she? Delilah looked around. This isn't the school! Well, from what she could guess. She couldn't see very well. It's like a faded photo was being held in front of her face, she could almost feel a musty developed plastic on her nose...

She couldn't really move, either. She tried moving her arms and legs, even tried to turn her head, but nothing was working. She could only staring straight into the sudden abyss she's found herself in. Oh God, she didn't feel good at all... It's like she had motion sickness, subtract the motion. She started feeling a heat grow behind her, and was spun around suddenly, just like her dream. She was ready to start screaming, but nothing was there to her surprise. 

Oh god, but what was that? Things flashed by her vision in all directions, her body twisting to follow the blurs. The more things flew by, the more she moved around. She kept spinning, not sure how to stop. Something wasn't right! She couldn't see, flares were sparking right outside her vision, and she was so dizzy... 

She abruptly stopped spinning. She was forced to look forward again, but no matter how still her body was kept, her mind was still on a roundabout.   
Everything suddenly felt drenched, blinding her further as liquid dripped down her face. Something smelled like gasoline. She kept wanting to rub her eyes, wanting to see what was happening. She heard a sound and her heart dropped through the ground. A match was struck. 

A sudden heat filled her entire consciousness, and she screamed. She didn't know how long she was screaming, or when she stopped, or even when she had woken up.  
She felt hands on her shoulders. She was shaking violently, hearing the creaking of the bed underneath her. 

“Ms. Weylin! Please, calm down. Do you know where you are?” Delilah heard a bunch of talking, from one person, surprisingly. She opened her eyes, a bright light and a white room not-so welcoming her back to consciousness. She recognized it, for she had spent many days in here, feigning illness. The nurses office.

She made herself relax, not pushing against the woman’s hands anymore. The woman let go of her and sighed, seemingly just as shaken as she was.  
Delilah always called her Wiggly, even out loud. Wiggly always reminded her of a dog she used to have, with features like long, absurdly curly hair, and a tight face. She was nice enough though, nicer than the dog, at least.

“Delilah, darling, you gotta stop doing this! I know you have, ah, a 'difficult' life at home, but-” Delilah groaned, stopping her right there. Apparently Wiggly won't be so nice today.

She sat up from the bed slowly and looked at her. She rode a wave of that up top feeling, sending chills down her back. She must have had a vicious face because Wiggly backed up tentatively. Delilah puffed her chest out and tried to replace her mean face with a stubborn one. “Ma'am, if I passed out, I passed out. Don't you dare try to blame me of faking it!” 

Wiggly held her hands up defensively, obviously surprised.  
“Don't worry, don't worry! I just got real worried, Hun. You don't... You haven't done this, in quite a while. Is ah, is somethin' bothering you?”   
Delilah relaxed as Wiggly started taking her seriously, contemplating telling her. Something in the back of her head told her otherwise. 'No, no! Don't tell her a thing. She's one of them, remember? She hates your thoughts.' 

What? Well, yes. She does. She always thought Delilah was kind of slow...   
Delilah frowned, returning her own thought. 'What am I saying? She at least kind of listened-'  
'Did anyone ever listen, Delilah?'

“Delilah?” Wiggly was waving a hand in front of her, seemingly impatient. “Delilah, answer me! Stop blanking out like that, God, you never stopped doing this!”  
Delilah had indeed blanked out, only noticing her own thoughts. That's odd, though. They seemed different. Were they really her own?   
She shook her head, her old self returning. “I'm sorry, I'm still really... Really groggy, from, you know. Hitting the ground someplace and waking up with bright lights.”  
She inwardly chuckled at a thought. 'And a dried up dirt-caked mop in my face, you abandoned Terrier.' 

Delilah smiled sweetly, nonetheless. More at her own comments than actually trying to be polite. Wiggly nodded hesitantly, sighing as she accepted it.   
“I think you do need to go home, darling. Don't worry, I'll call Toby. Just go wait outside, you need some rest and fresh air. Do you want someone to go with you?”  
Delilah immediately shook her head, like on an impulse. She hesitated responding a full answer, though. She did want someone to go with her. She didn't want to be out there alone. 

She inwardly groaned at herself, giving into her spontaneous self-defiance. “N-No, I'll be okay, I think... Toby probably thought this would happen, so he'll be here soon.”   
Delilah rubbed her face as she spoke, just trying to relax. She was so shaken, as she should be. That illusion she had... Was that just her re-living her dream? If something like that was fresh on the mind, then Delilah supposed that it's normal. 

Wiggly gave her a cold rag and led her outside. She sat at the end of the waiting station, on a bench in front of a brick pillar. Wiggly left after asking a couple more questions, leaving Delilah to ponder her surroundings. She didn't even know what the official name for this area is. Waiting dock? Hangout? Entrance? Maybe even an outer anteroom. That's for mansions though, and this horrid place, as colorful as it is, is far from being a mansion. 

As Delilah sat, waiting for Toby to inevitably arrive in a panic, maybe even going into the wrong parking lot, she never knew the impending danger approaching her.   
'Poor Delilah...' A voice rung out to her. 

She put some headphones in, and closed her eyes.  
'So lost in this world...' 

She groaned, trying to shake the thoughts away. 'Leave me alone. You're not real, there's no way it's you.' The sun dimmed, being covered by a thick cloud. The music tempo increased, trying to run out these thoughts.  
'If only there was somewhere you could go, huh?...'  
Tch. There wasn't anywhere for her to go. There was no one who cares. Only people who hate her. They surround her.   
'Open. Your. Eyes. Child.'

A sound. Footsteps and withheld laughter. Someone clapped in front of her face, snapping her back to awareness. Her eyes flew open as she tugged her headphones out, and a hand in front of her face flicked on a lighter, waving it in her face. 

“Heeey, freak! Lookie what I got! What'cha gunna do, take it?” The boyfriend, and his friends, all surrounded her with a match or lighter of their own. They must have sneaked out during lunch... Did someone see her pass out?

One of them started setting paper on fire, a makeshift torch, quietly whooping some sort of repetition.   
Delilah screamed at the sight, her foot immediately arching upward in defense as they stuck their fires in her personal space.   
She somehow managed to spike the boyfriend right where his flame is. Delilah would've laughed, if she weren't already busting through the wall of immature douchebags and booking it down the car lane. It made her run all the more faster when she heard them chase after her.

'Oh god oh god oh god- No- No please!' Delilah's mind was racing, already trying to outrun them. She's had to run away before, but they were always in a confined space, she could hide behind a teacher. Now she's running through the streets, no where to go. Damn it, she even went down the way she's not familiar with! She didn't have any time or barely any agility in this panic mode to turn quick enough and still escape. 

They boys were yelling out things at her as they ran. “Hey come on, come back! You don't like that stupid hair, right? Let's shave it off!” Whoops of agreement and neanderthal-like sounds emitted from behind her. She held her breath, almost tripping several times. Delilah reveled in the fact that she took gymnastics, so she can handle running and jumping and moving, but admittedly, it's still been a while since she's done it. She just hopes it'll last. 

Everyone on these streets were gone, all either being at work, school, or asleep on a groggy Monday morning. There went a vital lifeline... She continued to zip along the street, the boys always behind her. She didn't dare look back or slow down. Eventually they even started throwing things they pass at her, rocks, lawn ornaments and pencils they may have had. 

Tears started to trickle down her face, blocking her vision. She was closer and closer to dropping from stress and exhaustion. 'Where's another adrenaline rush when you need one?' She thought, struggling to breath. She didn't know where she was anymore, to add to her panic. At first she was in a small neighborhood, but now things look more brown and dusty through her blurred vision.

A voice, The Voice to her fear, rung out into her head just like all those years ago. 'Delilah... Let me guide you...'   
She growled, snapping back at it. 'No! You got me into this, you sick f-' 

Freeway! 'Oh my god, is this a highway-?' Delilah groaned, wiping her eyes quickly and looking around as she sprinted. She's on an actual highway! Barely any cars were here, thank everything, but those boys were still on her tail... 'What the hell, are they really going to chase me down a highway just to have the bragging rights to ruining a small girls life?' She thought, looking back and forth on the sidelines. The boys were catching up, and oh God, she didn't want to do this...

She ran across it anyway. She didn't care if they got hurt. It was their fault anyway, chasing her into traffic. She cussed and vulgarized every word she could manage, thinking and half-saying the insult method. “Y-you- dim...” 'Dim witted assholes...' “Use- god... Useless...” 'Useless rusty horseshoes...!' 

She closed her eyes again, being overwhelmed by tears and pain. Maybe she should just give up. Maybe she should just stop! Let a car end it, not those things chasing her. She'd haunt them for the rest of their life. She would hold all her ghostly powers against them for eternity. 

Except it's not like anyone would believe that they chased her, though. She would be forgotten, as the stupid girl who just got hit by a car while running away from school. The girl who didn't have a life, ruined by her incredibly 'ridiculous past mistake' of apparently 'killing her damn parents-!'

'Child... Delilah... Listen to me...! I guided you from fire, I will do it again... You matter to me, Delilah... You are worthy...' Again, the Voice filled her mind with things she would adore to be true. She used to believe what was said.

'Don't you dare lie to me anymore! I'm about to be potentially KILLED, YOU MONSTER!' Delilah screamed at the Voice, her legs burning, her heart breaking.   
This is the most remorse she's ever felt, other than when her grandfather passed. Most likely because she's in risk of joining him, wherever he may be. Why did she deserve this? What did she do in a past life to screw up her karma so badly that this happens? 

Her eyes were closed tightly, burning with every hard heart-pounding step. She didn't know where she was going anymore, and she didn't care. The asphalt under her gave way to dirt and some kind of path, causing her to trip. She felt rocks and roots hit her as she fell, leaving bruises all on her. Where is she? How did she not get hit by a car...?  
She opened her eyes fearfully, scrambling to start running again. She stopped herself quickly, as she almost ran into a large tree. She panted, gasping for air, and swirled around to make sure they weren't behind her. She could hear them, even past rushing blood in her ears. It's like hearing the screams of commands from a war-lord to his army during a storm. 

The boys though, were no army. They couldn't find her. She heard their calls and taunts. She wasn't going to be around to answer them.   
Delilah rounded the tree, staying low to the ground, going slow to help regain her energy. It was surprisingly effective, her breath leveling and her pulse calming at an alarming rate. It's a miracle how much the human body can do.

Delilah soon became extremely fatigued, though. Her vision was fading in and out, groans of concentration escaping her. At some point, she had fallen down and was crawling along. Her shoulder bumped something vertical and flat. Her hand reached up, trying to feel for a leverage to lift her again. She had to know where the boys were, have the upper hand again, or they would find her, vulnerable and cornered...

She soon found a grip. It cut into her hand, but she thankfully couldn't feel or notice anything. She pulled herself up, throwing her other arm over it. She allowed herself a moment of relishing the feel of her blood returning to her extremities, the feeling of being in control again. 

The only thing she really couldn't understand was why there was a wall out here in the first place. As far as she knew, and as her salt-filled eyes would tell her, is that she's in a woods like area. Absolutely wonderful. She heard twigs breaking underfoot nearby, and more calls. Jesus, do they have a tracker on her?   
'The noses of the dirty mutts they are?' She thought. 

She pulled herself up more, too tired to really lift. She yipped loudly as the wall fell short of width, making her flop back down onto the other side. Her sound must have alerted the mutts because she heard the cracking of wood come closer and closer, till they were right outside the wall. She started crying again, covering her face and shaking.   
The Voice reached words out to her in a way that made her feel like someone was stroking her hair. 'Yes... You're safe now, child... You can stand, dry your tears...'   
She made a noise of resentment at the encouragement, but wobbled up anyway. If she's going to die, she might as well get it over with.

Thankfully, the new, fresh tears helped cleared out the previous ones wind-blown back into her eyes, so she was able to at least get a much better look at where she might die.

She stared forward, a feeling of horrible deja vu. The wall she just climbed through wasn't what she thought it was. Or, rather, it was what she thought it was.   
The boys were right in front of her. The same words rung out in her head, echoing to last night, rang out in the bathroom mental expedition, rang out to when she fainted. 

'Welcome, child. To where I hide.'


	3. Chapter 3

The hole itself was large. It looked like someone used a sledge hammer a couple times to get through. The wall was brick on the outside, but on the inside... Delilah touched the wall, leaning forward to the hole, wary of her being seen. She studied the odd looking wall briefly. The inside walls were alike to ones in a house, but there wasn't any sort of stuffing in the wall's opening. From a side view, all she saw was broken slabs of red and white. 'It's like the inner walls were just, painted on, but they're clearly not...'

Outside the hole, the boys scurried off with disappointed yelps. “Damn it! I hope she gets eaten. No one will miss her.” One said. “I bet the bears won't even want her.” Another. Each one rotated, insulting her, wandering away to go back to school. Oh no... School. Toby!

Delilah almost lurched out of the wall again, but she stopped. She was safe. If she left now, who knows what would happen to her. She stood fully, her head now above the top of the hole. She turned around cautiously, ready to book it again if any fire sprouts. Nothing did, though. No flames in her face. No heat in her mind. No fear at all.   
'Thank everything... I'm... I'm actually safe.' She thought, pulling her hair back in shock.

She's safe. Safe! Of all things! Finally, freedom to think! 

Delilah giggled quietly, soon erupting in a fit of laughter. It rang out, echoing around her. Her eyes squeezed shut, her arms wrapped along her stomach, kneeling almost painfully. So much relief, so much happiness, everything felt cold for once...

'Isn't it a wondrous feeling, child? To be held in a safe place?' The Voice said.   
It took a while for Delilah to calm down and be able to respond, if she could even call it that. She was on the ground again, lying against a soft carpet, the ceiling a very... Very... Uh. 

This place was huge.

She stared up into it's dark recesses, seeing beams and lacy cobwebs line her new heavens. She smiled up at it, giggling quietly now, speaking to nothing. “You actually pulled through this time, you stupid detached noise. What's so different now? Did I trip a wire, hit a switch where you'd actually do something good for me?” She didn't expect a reply. There never was.

She took a minute to fully relax, then sat up. It was fairly dark, as usual, but she could still make things out. It was like the brightness level on the TV. Toby always had it so high up, so any dark room in a movie always seemed illuminated. This reminded her of that. 

With everything she's gone through today, Delilah noticed that she was fairly calm about this. Her mind was trying to decode different things, but normally she's freaking out by now. Was the Voice in charge of certain events? Did it do this? If she was going to end up here anyway, then why couldn't she see it in detail when she dreamed? Why can't she see it now?   
Delilah rolled her eyes passively at the thought. 'But pssh, of course there's no reason why the giant hole in the wall would emit any light in here. Not even from where I'm lying. It's like it's just a really, really bright painting on the wall. Or a light glitch thing in Minecraft.' 

She stood up again and sighed, stretching. She decided she would call Toby later. Maybe they'll rightfully blame the little demons for her disappearing. They'll look for her maybe, and she'll show up, but first, she wanted to look around and see what this place was. 

As she stepped forward on another carpet - How tacky, a thick carpet over the already present floor carpet? - Something changed. The strange illumination in the room increased, the enormous lights above her lighting up by themselves.

A type of... Buzz, entered the air. It felt weird to her. The air felt like nothing, no temperature, and a type of vibration went through her. It's like a machine started somewhere. Things started to morph around her, and for a moment, Delilah almost feared that she had fainted again, but she pinches herself, and sure enough nothing changes, except the room. Everything seemed to rejuvenate around her, the buzz steadily increasing. The cobwebs faded, the carpets looked brand new, and even the paint that peeled off over time jumped back up and slid back in place on the walls. 

'I'm just going to ignore the fact that this whole place just fixed itself, like... The opposite of Silent Hill?' She thought, her mouth gaping in surprise. She could at least see where she was, now. 

She looked around, cautiously stepping more onto the long rug. She was in an extremely fancy hotel or business building, it seemed. There were paintings on the wall, soft benches beneath them, chandeliers swinging above with swirled iron and clasps around the light bulbs, and a long, deep red, wall-to-wall rug. She never knew this kind of thing was back here, but then again, the Voice lead her here so who ever really knew? Is this place even real?

It has a wonderful sense of style, though.

She waited till everything calmed down, and the buzzing stayed at a constant frequency before moving anymore. Now it sounded just like an actual hotel, bustling with activity. She even hears voices, and the clinking of metals. Are other people here?

Delilah's fears came back. If people are here, then what if she gets picked up from a stranger? What would the staff say to this hole in the wall, let alone that a girl who they've undoubtedly seen on the news just crawled through it? Is the Voice someone who works here...?

Too many questions. Maybe she can get something to eat instead of worrying. She could probably pose as being a part of a family lodging here. No matter what though, the Voice led her here for a reason, she just has to find out why. She turned and started down the hallway, toward the louder noises, casually looking at the paintings as she went.

'These are some amazing pieces... I don't recognize any of the names. Or the art style. Or anything about any of these.' She thought, scanning each of them. The paintings all depicted very out-of-this-world settings and characters. Are these all abstract painters? Is there a theme? No no, stop with the questions. She sighed and shook her head. 'You're a hurt teenager, not a world-renown critic, Del.' 

She continued on, the sound of the public growing in volume. There must be a meeting or something, since there's no one out and about.

Oh, there's someone! With delight, Delilah saw a small group of people near the end of the hallway, gathered around a door. She jogged forward and approached them, but soon stopped in her tracks about ten feet away, horrified at what she saw.

Three people, who seemed to be men, turned to look at her with beady yellow eyes. The visible skin, mostly on their heads, was previously mistaken as hats, but now Delilah sees it as hills of fat covered in many fine gray scales, now bristled a bit by her presence. Their lips looked pulled out, but she saw that it was a type of beak. Their clothing, hugging and draping off of short, thick bodies, dripped in golden chains and silk. Each chain had some sort of symbol on it, all seeming elaborate. Delilah didn't know who, or what, these people were, but she didn't want to anger them.

She quickly stammered out an apology for staring, then flipped her head down and turned to walk away, not sure to where but she knows she had to leave. She only went a couple steps before knocking into someone else. She squealed and looked up fearfully. 

The person, Delilah isn't even sure what to call this one, stumbled backwards. Their clothing bounced around, thick and layered with exotic colors, like they just stepped back inside from a cold Russian festival. Their soft looking and pure white hands, which looked like all the fingers were molded together, held an object that looked similar to a guitar, but with odd trinkets attached to it. Delilah whimpered, not knowing why this person had wide antennas instead of ears. Long horn things that sprout out from bulbs on their temples hovered just in front of the antennas, hanging down beside a very tight mouth. They looked at her with large blue eyes in surprise. 

'God, what?! They don't even have pupils, it's just... Blue! Like staring into a sky! What the hell are these things!?' Delilah thought, frozen in fear and confusion. 

The creature made a sound, nothing like she's ever heard before. There's no way to describe it. The bird-fish-men were standing and staring, adding their own language to the mix of sounds. She responded to the Russian cloud alien, trying to apologize again, but only a terrified murmur escaping her as she backed up, tears filling her eyes again. 

She spun her head around a couple times, seeing so many other creatures of all shapes and sizes surrounding her suddenly. They seemed curious, but Delilah surely wasn't curious about them right now. They kept coming closer, making noises that Delilah never knew were possible to make. She covered her ears and whined, curling in on herself.  
'O-oh god, oh god I should have called Toby... I have to get away...!'

She jumped and screamed when one of the creatures laid a paper-thin hand on her shoulder. She turned and bolted, pushing through a couple of them. She's pretty sure one of them was made of gel, as she shook her arm, now covered in it, fiercely.

Soon she found a small corridor to hide in, shaking and crying all over again. This isn't real, she must have passed out, the boys must have found her, she must have been hit by a car-

She sat down on the ground, firmly planting her face against her knees. She sat there, trying to figure out what was going on, when she felt someone touch her back and say something in a language she would never come to understand. The voice was soft, like water dripping off a rock. She tensed and jumped over to the side, hitting up against another bench. She looked up, shivering and moving around in flight or fight instinct. 

The hand retracted back to the slender and surprisingly humanoid body of it's owner, who seemed to be about her age. He's donning a long light green tank top and some black cargo shorts. His back and legs were bent to lean down to her, his smooth, olive-toned face creased in worry. His hair was a dark and musty brown, like someone mixed up the dirt in a pond. It had shiny spots like minerals spotted through it, shining in the reflection of the chandeliers. It had a style similar to a cow lick, but his hair didn't seem to part anywhere. It just pointed up on the back of his head, and out on the top. 

She saw something swish beside his head. His ears moved... No, fluttered, seemingly involuntarily. They were fins, she guessed, shaped like leaves, the veins pushing through and thinning through the jagged edges.

He clears his throat, backing up respectfully and kneeling down beside her with a curt nod. His formality quickly faded away as curiosity, confusion and awe replaced it.  
“Oh, oh! You're a... A hum- Human? Yes, Human. I'm sorry, for scaring you. I noticed that you were, k- ca- Canoe? Know? No, new! Right. You're new. Terribly sorry, my voice doesn't make sense at the moment!” He laughs a bit, making a sound that reminds Delilah of bubbles popping underwater. It was surprisingly soothing. His voice in general was soft and reminded her of water, like he was talking to her beside a river. It allowed her to relax and calm down enough to respond as smoothly as she could.

She sniffled and fumbled to find words instead of trying to sound smart, or anything near it. She didn't know what to think. She took the time to scold herself. 'You have to act civil at some point, girlie. He seems nice enough, at least.' 

She lifted her head, looking around the odd conversationalists. Thankfully, there wasn't really anyone else around. Anyone who was, wasn't paying attention. There was a large slug giving a receptionist something at a nearby window, and neither of them seemed to care. 

She looks up at her company with a small smile as she noticed he was waiting patiently. She cleared her throat to speak. “N-no, it's, it's okay. I kn-know what you mean, kind of. What... Where am I?” She gives him a confused look.

He blinks big gray eyes at her. “Do you not, new- know? This is, as I've been heard, Olchia. It means to me, 'My World'. I've seen others call it things, like Deztany, close to the human English, Destiny, as well. It's different for everyone. Where have you been told it is?” He smiles smooth lips at her.

Delilah stared at him for a bit as he spoke, a realization hitting her. This... This alien is talking to her? Kindly? He can speak English? She saw bird-fish-men and pale Russian E.T.s who didn't seem to speak a word of anything in her Universe. One of the many aliens who could have approached her could do it, though, without wanting to probe her or anything. 

'This is nothing like my books... This is, better, maybe.' She thought dreamily. 

He had sat down fully, holding his hands together above his knees. He's good at this patience thing. Not wanting to be rude, Delilah sighed quietly, wiping her tears before answering him. “I honestly don't really know what this is... I'm still so confused on how I got here, to be honest. I guess the closest I've heard to naming this place, is 'where I hide'. The Voice told me that.” 

The boy jumped slightly, obviously excited. “You hear Vria too? Ah, I call the sound Vria, but... Oh, wonder, I've been seeing for someone who does! I don't know anyone elses voice, so I can't hear if they do, but I can hear you, and you've heard Vria! Isn't it good?”

She rolled her eyes, shrugging with obvious disagreement. “To you, maybe. It must be different for every universe, seeing as this place is filled with, like, aliens!” She huffed, tossing her head back against the bench a couple times. She can't straighten out how she feels about this, and it's evident. The boy lost his smile, moving again to sit right beside her. 

“It's, not good to you, then. I apologize. I don't know how it changes for everyone, but this place... Is a reason. Or, I mean, has a reason. Because of here, I was able to stop from becoming... Oh, what would that be?...” He stopped in thought, trying to find a certain word to translate to English. 

Delilah looked at him, watching as his eyes flitted back and forth. As the pause went on, Delilah took the moment to really consider where she was, and keep as steady of a mind as possible. He may not be human, and now she knows the Voice isn't either, but she didn't want to anger or disrespect any of them.

Delilah scanned her little life time line. She had been followed by something she called the Voice all her life, which caused many bad things for her. It only just now came back recently. It must obviously have some kind of control on her, and many others. The Voice brings these people here, to 'Where I hide'. A hole in the wall. A hotel. A meeting place. A safe haven? 

Delilah sighed, thinking to herself. 'I mean, seriously. I'm sitting here talking to an alien who sounds like a damn national park, and I'm pretty sure I stuck my arm through someones body. Where did they all come from? I only saw that first group, then all of a sudden, there were so many... things...'

The boy tapped her knee with a big and shiny smile, teeming with pride. “I found it! I was able to stop from becoming my Leader! The word, itself, wouldn't fit your voice. That's why it was hard to find.” 

She smiled a bit at him, letting all those bad thoughts trickle out. She was starting to think the way he talked was adorable, what with messing up the English language almost professionally and all. It reminded her of a character she liked, in a book she read. 

She decided, in that moment, that she would learn all she can about this boy. He's kind, and doesn't have any sort of predatory behavior, so he should be fine. She grinned at him slightly with a hint of confusion to his answer. “Your Leader, huh? How can you become your own leader? Like, ascension to the throne kind of thing?”

He grins, shrugging. “No. I would be my Leader, simply. My Leader, is domination, of worlds. I don't want to hurt other worlds. So I follow to Olchia, to instead connect worlds, to My World.”


	4. Chapter 4

'Attention, all, We have a new tenant awaiting service! You'll know her... When you see her. Have a wonderful life.'

Delilah blinked, looking around. That definitely wasn't directed right to her, but she heard it like the Voice was in her head. Did everyone hear it?

Her question was answered when the boy beside her blinked a couple times with a blank face, then shivers and laughs a bit, smiling brightly at her. “Aria welcomes you! Aria has a voice like no other, right?” 

She nods, even though she never really noticed just how weird the Voice really sounded, or felt, rather. “Yeah, really... Did everyone hear that?” 

The boy nods with a knowing grin and points to the side, a mass of all sorts of beings gathering at the start of the corridor.

Delilah looked, and sure enough, they were there, all speaking together in a jumble of vibrations, odd sounds, and she was pretty sure she heard barking. Her nerves rose, lightly grabbing onto the boys arm. “Right, okay! Hey let's continue our conversation somewhere else, I'd rather not have my arm or any other body part shoved through someones abdomen again!” The boy laughed and nodded, letting Delilah stand with him. 

The two ran down the hall, but with as much anxiety that Delilah was fairly confident she was showing, the boy was still playful and happy. Delilah almost thought it was annoying. 'Beggars can't be choosers, idiot. At least he's not a centipede.' She thought with amused frustration. 

They rounded a couple corners of identical corridors, soon stopping in a hallway with large windows on one side. They were curtained with heavy velvet at the moment, but everything was nice and quiet here. Delilah relished in it, and sat down on a bench to take a break, followed by the boy, who was still obviously excited.

Delilah looked at him, arching a brow. He looked confused, but attempted to mimic her. He failed miserably, since he didn't really have eyebrows. The closest he had to it, she now realized, was intricate golden lines and swirls going down the side of his face. They all shifted in a funny way, making Delilah bust out laughing. The boy smiled and started laughing as well, enjoying that he made her happy.

They spent a couple seconds laughing till they calmed down. Delilah took a deep breath and looked at him again, trying not to laugh. “Okay, o-okay, that was pretty funny. I don't even know if you have eyebrows, but you gave it a go!” 

He nodded proudly and patted his forehead. “Yes, I did. I gave, a go. I gave, it, a go. I gave my face a go.” He paused then turned toward her, sitting on his leg. “I have a question!”

She giggled and turned toward him as well. “Yes?”  
“...What is a go?” He asks, tilting his head. 

Delilah smiled and giggled. 'God, he looks so sincere. Poor non-human boy.' She reached up and patted his hair, almost expecting rocks to fall out of it or for it to be wet. “Don't worry about it. It's just a saying that humans have.” She said.

He nods, understanding. “Humans. You're the first human I've heard. Your voice is... Different. May I have another answer?” He tilted his head the other way.

She kept a polite silence, nodding. He pointed at her with a curious look. “You call Aria, the Voice. What do you call, you?”

She thought for a bit, then realized what he's asking. “Oh, my name? My name is Delilah, Delilah Weylin if last names are important... Or if aliens even have last names... What about you?” 

She had a small thought as she asked, 'I really, really hope I can pronounce it. What if it's a sound I can't even make? I hope he's okay with nicknames.'

He pauses, turning her name over a couple times. “De-li-lah. Delilah. That's such a nice sound.” He smiles kindly, which Delilah returns as he continued speaking. “I am named, ah, something you may not be able to speak. It's Ualwaezneik, made to fit your sounds, but many just called me Z'in.” He shifted, almost bashful. 

'He must realize that human names aren't... really like that...' She thought, an amused smile directed at him. She giggled. “Lemme try to say it! That sounds like such a cool name, honestly.” She cleared her throat, a smile coming from Z'in. 

“Hmm... Oo-Al-Way-Zin-Ick. Is that right? I can see where the Z'in comes from! Does it mean anything?” Delilah asked. She really did love the complexity and simplicity of names. In a place like this, she'll soon get her fill of unique names.

Z'in nodded happily. “Perfect sounds, Delilah. Good way of saying it. I'm not knowing if it has a meaning that can be English, but If I had voiced it in my normal sound, you actually... Might not be able to hear it.” He flutters his olive ears and points to them. “They can hear more than just voice.”

She leaned forward a bit, wanting to get a good look at them. He turns his head to allow it, trying to still them so she could see. From the base, they're thick and fleshy, thinning upward with transparency. They're angled a bit away from his forward-pointed hair, the tips of his ears twitch and flex as each spike moves independently. She pulled back with a fascinated expression. 

“That's amazing... I've read a lot of stuff about aliens, but- Well I mean it must be obvious- but I've never met one before. Let alone one that can speak English. And not one that looks as interesting as you. Or- I, uh.” She stops, her face flushing. He blinks widely, the olive in his face tinting just as badly with bark-like patterns. Delilah wasn't even going to try to redeem herself. She just called an alien cute, and he knows it.

She was quick to react when she heard a sloshing sound, eager to find a new subject and maybe a conversational escape route. She didn't want to make things awkward. She turned to see something black down the other end of the hall, being the source. Or, again, it was a something. 

A scuttling was soon accompanied by the swooshing of liquids, obviously coming from this new visitor. Z'in groaned, but Delilah didn't have time to question it. The creature made a loud crackling squeaky noise, like a comical cartoon sound, scuttling over to her speedily. At a closer range, Delilah could see just exactly what this thing looked like.

The first thing she noticed, was the triangular prism shape it was forming. Now she can see that it was it's legs, all... 20 of them? They aren't curved outward like a spiders, they're crossed over its back and inter-laying beside and between each other, like hands put together. The legs were flat, and thick, making a hard-shelled layer of protection, Delilah guessed. Under the leg-roof were cups, vials, and other odd containers filled with different color liquid, all stacked up, from his vertical back end to his short neck. The creatures head was in the shape of some kind of meshed insect, nothing distinctive. Big dotted eyes, small antennas on the side, wide skull and small mouth/chin. He kind of reminded Delilah of a grasshopper. 

She quickly sized herself and this creature up as it approached, not wanting to run away. She didn't think that would be a good idea anyway, considering this thing has over 10 legs with a huge stride span if stretched. 

It got right in front of them, and Z'in really wasn't looking so good. Delilah was trying to balance her attention from the twitchy and hungry-looking creature to the shaky and tensed up Z'in, who sounded like he was boiling. The creature was clicking and whirring at her, his legs imitating waves around him. 

Delilah honestly didn't know what to do. She doubted it spoke English, but she'll give it a try. “Uh... I-I'm sorry, do you- Do you need something?” 

The creature opened its jaw wide, revealing a disturbing amount of needles all dripping with some kind of steaming gel, which Z'in reacted to violently. 

He kicked upward, much like Delilah did earlier, snapping it's jaw shut onto itself. She jumped at his sudden reaction, still not sure what to do. Z'in did the acting himself though, as he stood and roughly shooed the creature away, letting it run down the hall, clicking frantically. Z'in stayed standing, making sure it wouldn't come back. He soon visibly calmed himself, sitting back down casually. “I apologize for the anger. I don't enjoy its reason, you see. The only way it's here is to do what Vria doesn't know of. I've, seen it take others. I've known it be called a Harp- Ah, Harvest, I mean. For the grown one.” As Z'in spoke, he illustrated what he meant by 'grown one', signifying a very large person. 

Delilah sat for a moment, thinking. She began to try to respond. “I- Wow, I mean- I kind of forgot about the violent aliens. I didn't know if I'd meet any. Why would the Voice let those in here if this is supposed to be like, a helping place? Letting aliens – I'm guessing - kill other aliens, possibly all one of a kind, isn't a very... Constructive thing to do. That's counter-constructive. That's super not constructive.” She took a beat, then asked “Wait, who's the big guy?”

Z'in shrugged at her last question. “I've never seen or heard the grown one. Only Vria, and who show thought of the grown ones place, know of it. But Vria doesn't. Vria doesn't know of Harvest, or any other thing that happens badly. I've been seeing for Vria, to tell of it, but... I can't see Vria. I can only hear.” 

She nodded, humming in thought. She would like to see the Voice for herself, and ask a couple – if not a hundred – questions. One step at a time, though. 

She shrugged inwardly. She didn't know how long she would be here, or what she's even supposed to do, but she assumed that finding the Voice was it. She turned to Z'in to speak. “Let's start looking, I guess. It's gotta be somewhere. Should we go find the big guy first, so we know where this is coming from?” 

Z'in nodded. “Yes, that would be a good thought. He will be easier to see than Vria would.” He smiled at his little pun and hopped up, gently pulling her along. “But first, you must be hungry!” 

Delilah's stomach growled on cue, earning a shocked look from Z'in. She waved her hand and patted her stomach. “No no, don't worry! It's my stomach. It does that when I'm hungry. All humans do it.” 

Z'in nodded, looking less surprised. “Right. I'll try to keep a thought on that!” He turned, leading her down the hallway where the Harvest came from. Delilah didn't feel too good about it, honestly. “Wait, what if there's more of them? How many can the Voice bring here from one species?” 

He shrugged, continuing to walk calmly. “As many as he thinks to. It's to who he speaks with, no limit in how many. I've seen whole worlds here!” Z'in's regular demeanor returned, excited, bubbly and enthusiastic, all with just a new subject. A thought crossed Delilah's mind. 

“What about your species? Were you one in a million, or did your whole family come?” Delilah asked gently, not wanting to upset him. She knows enough family problems and how easily they can happen. Family court for these aliens would be hell. 

As she expected, he didn't stay too happy about it. He crossed his arms as he walked, still trying to hold a smile. “Eh, well, I did show to Olchia... Alone. And I continue alone for a long time. Vria spoke to me often, that I had more good thoughts than my Leader, and should stay with the thoughts instead. If I didn't, then I would have to hurt other worlds. No one wanted me to, ah, the term... 'back down', from being my Leader. I was, ah... Cut. They cut into me, and cut me out. It would be, like, ah... Being... 'Disowned'.” 

Delilah stopped a bit, caught off guard. She glanced at him with a worried expression, but he waved a hand dismissively, then pointed at the lines crossing his face. “My first Olchia didn't have a like for me, and... I never had liked first Olchia, and many people to show here didn't either, for themselves.” He shrugs and turns to her as he walks, playfully bouncing backwards now. He was trying to keep the mood up after telling something like that, she could tell. It was working, in a way. She didn't want to think about what being 'cut' was like.

He continued speaking as he hopped. “I wouldn't find you alone, and with fear, if you had more humans, right? What was Olchia to you?” 

She knew she would have to explain her side eventually. It was only fair. She sighed and put her hands in her pockets, trying to keep a positive attitude as well. It was failing miserably. She couldn't find one positive way to open this up. 

“I'll just, tell you straight up. You guys have fire and stuff where you're from, right?” Z'in nodded curiously, slowing to match her pace. She continued. ”Well, that's how it kind of started. The Voice had been talking to me for a long time, always telling me stuff like it told you. That I had better thinking. That I was, like, capable, and strong, and worthy. Worthy of or strong from what, I have absolutely no idea! But I told people about the Voice, and I shouldn't have. It would've happened anyway, knowing how manipulative this thing can be, but yeah, it was pretty bad. I was blamed for a, uh... For a lot of stuff. Bad stuff, obviously.” Z'in had stopped bouncing, at least to her knowledge. Delilah kept walking.

“I didn't come here willingly. I was chased. By a bunch of dudes who hated me. I was supposed to go home with my guardian, Toby. Today was the anniversary of when my parents died.” 

'Can you feel it, child?'   
Delilah shivered and shook her head. “And, uh. I kinda dreamed about coming here last night. It was, it was so weird...” She kept walking, slowly, more deliberately and carefully.

'Let it flow over you.'  
She groaned, stopping completely. She was swaying slightly. “I... I like to read, and get away from my own life... Do you do that, Z'in?” Her vision was getting fuzzy and she didn't know where the floor was anymore. 

'… You've made a mistake, Delilah.'


	5. Chapter 5

Delilah took a shallow breath, feeling lightheaded, like she was floating. She was standing and frozen in place like usual, but she felt less restrained, oddly. She knew her eyes were open, but the only thing she could see was mist in an otherwise pitch black room. She could see the mist due to a light shining down on her, making a spotlight. She didn't dare step out of it, but she was starting to get pretty fed up with just waking up in a new place. She decided to call out to whatever may be out there.

“Hello? Anybody out there? Where'd you put me now, huh?” Her voice echoed around her, sending chills across her arms. The echoes twisted into unearthly sounds, almost making her cover her ears. 'What is this place...? Am I dreaming again?' She thought, not wanting to hear her echoes again. 

A single spotlight burst out a couple feet away from her own. It caught her attention, but she didn't see anyone in it. “Hellooo?” She called, cringing at her returned sounds. 

“Delilah, tell me, do you want to go home?” Delilah gasped as she heard the Voice, without it being in her head as it usually was. It didn't even have an echo, which added to the eeriness of it all. She looked around, and back at the other light in confusion. Quietly, she asked, “Where are you? Do you have a body? What's that other light-”  
“Silence! Answer my question, child.” The Voice urged, cutting off Delilah. 

She paused, thinking about why the Voice could be asking this. When she spoke, she sounded wary. “Well... Yeah, I guess. If you mean straight home, and not having to deal with those jerks that got me here...” 

'Like you.' She thought. 

“I heard that. Don't smart me, Delilah. Remember, I'm still with you, no matter what. It is the burden of a guardian, that I must bear.” The Voice remarked. Delilah groaned, her own thoughts not being safe anymore. 

“Fine, fine! Whatever. Now can you answer a couple of my questions?” Delilah asked, still looking up and around. She couldn't look straight up due to the light, and it didn't help her growing headache any. 

“Of course. It' only fair. I'll even sweeten this small agreement for you, dear. If you ask something off topic as to going home, I'll throw in a free explanation as to why I asked. Good?”

Delilah hummed, figuring that the Voice wanted something. It was a good deal, though, so she nodded. “Sure. Sounds kind of fishy, but I'll do it.” There was no response, so she continued. “Off topic. Okay. How about... What are you?” 

“Wonderful question. One I didn't expect. I forget that humans aren't accustomed to the 'supernatural', as your kind would put it.” There was a pause as more lights popped on, spreading out to the furthest reaches. Delilah realized that this wasn't any ordinary room, especially as other aliens began to fill these lights, just as suddenly as she did. The one in front of her was left oddly open, though. 

“I am many different things, Delilah. All of those you see here, I have reached out to, and they have accepted me, they have accepted what I have for them, and more. I couldn't begin to describe what exactly I am, for you would not understand it. You are but a human, and the last of my choices to connect with. Such an... Inferior race, you, such an extraordinary girl, is forced to inhabit. As for your question, just see me as you should have from the beginning – A mentor, a guide, someone to be comforted by. I only meant to show you what more you could have.” 

As the Voice was explaining all this, Delilah began to feel... Conflicted. She never understood why the Voice had chosen her. She remembers that Z'in had said that everyone here was chosen for something, but she just didn't know what her purpose could be. The Voice keeps saying that Delilah is so cared for and so different, but at what cost? Delilah could only begin to feel anger as she responds. “I really don't understand. At all. That didn't answer anything! You weren't any of those things, I couldn't even talk to you half the time! You got me blamed for murder, and you seriously think you helped me?” 

Silence falls again, the echoes not even returning, furthering Delilah's frustration. That last unoccupied light flickered, averting her attention to it. It grew, taking up the space in front of her. More people started to fill that single light, but it stopped her breath when she saw who. 

First, it was her parents. They were the only ones moving. They looked happy, reenacting a memory, when her father would sneak up behind her mother and tickle her. Her father put a finger to his mouth, directed at Delilah, before he poked and prodded at her mother. Jane silently laughed, but it sounded out into Delilah's mind like it did all those years ago. She also recalled how she giggled at the spectacle, in her past, as she sat on the couch of her old home... It felt like the scene would last forever, until a loud bang sounded around her, her parents freezing in place and crumbling into ashes and dying embers... Their expressions staying the same except for that very last second. A moment of remorse crossed their broken faces.

“Delilah... You were the one who needed me. You still do, and always will. And I, too, need you. Do you wish to be blamed for this, for the rest of your diminishable human life? I think not, since you continue to complain about my place in that event. I must ask you to do something if you want to leave here, happily, at least...” The Voice growled, obviously upset with Delilah's attitude. Delilah huffed, shaking slightly from the scene presented to her. She began shaking even more when Z'in replaced the ashes, appearing to be as wax-modeled as the rest of the aliens. 

“You wanted to know why I asked my first question. I'll tell you, simply.” The Voice said, the usually calm and knowledgeable tone returning. All the other lights turned off, making the space seem so much smaller again, excluding the one in front of her. 

“Leave this boy be.” The Voice boomed, making Delilah jump at the sudden intensity. “He will hinder you. You have a more important mission to complete, which you will find only if you detach from him... Once you complete this said mission, I will let you go back to the world you know. Don't worry about time passage, or anyone knowing you're gone. Time is almost stopped in your realm. Your focus lies here, Delilah. Remember that. Your punishments are out of my hands if you refuse to part with Z'in.” 

Delilah shook her head, looking around sporadically. “Why?! And let myself be vulnerable to those stupid Harvests or whatever? Do you even know what your own little village is like for someone like me? You should! You said it! I'm just a tiny little nobody-cares-about-her human!” Delilah stamped her foot, stubborn anger filling her. “I will not go on a stupid goose chase to find whatever calling you have for me, I'd rather face the fictitious consequences with Z'in then be alone anymore!” 

As Delilah fumed, staring into the darkness, the Voice finally responded. “I apologize if you feel that way, Delilah. I will allow you to do what you wish, this place is a safe haven for you... Once you find your mission, you may change your mind, you may change... Everything. Goodbye.” 

The light above her began to dim. Delilah held her breath, closing her eyes as the darkness consumed her with a feeling of sickness. 

It felt like she had her eyes closed for a long time. Delilah groaned as light flooded the thin layer in front of her eyes, suddenly reminding her body of it's actions. She was sore all over, like she had scaled a mountain, and her head was pounding viciously. Delilah reminds herself of when she fainted earlier... At school? Is she back? She can hear people talking.

She hesitated, but soon decided it was best to see where she was. She hoped for everything she was back, that Toby was there... She slowly opened her eyes, revealing a blurry hallway and someone above her. 

“Delilah? Are you feeling bad? Oh wonder, are you waking?” A familiar voice said, telling Delilah exactly what she didn't want to know. She was still there, past the hole in the wall... And she probably scared the living hell out of Z'in. 

She groaned out a response. “Uh, I really wish I wasn't... I don't – I don't know about you, Z'in, but I don't appreciate manipulative voices tossing me around like that...” She felt a hand on her back and pressure, then a cool flat surface behind her. She opened her eyes more and gained a little control again, managing to not fall off the bench that Z'in had thankfully placed her on. 

Z'in was in front of her, kneeling down like before, with an incredibly worried expression. “...You do this event many times, don't you? I've seen Vria hasn't been very good to you often...” Z'in said, catching up to the pattern that Delilah has experienced. 

She shrugs at his question. “I'm kinda making a habit of it, aren't I? Geez, I really am sorry though, I get thrown into more realms than I finish conversations. What were we talking about -” Z'in waved a hand quickly and shook his head, giving her a determined stare. “No no, let's not hear the past. I'm curious and startled, Delilah. Let me hear your memory – Tell me what happened, please.” 

Delilah returned a glance, somehow becoming bashful. Normally she get's made fun of or has an awkward conversation after passing out. She's had to do it many times with Toby and Wiggly before, but now Z'in is seemingly so supportive and genuinely worried... It made her glad that she decided to say what she did to the Voice. She really would rather be with Z'in than be alone. 

Delilah nodded as her mind cleared. “Right... An explanation would probably be good. I've fainted, like, what feels to be ten times today. It's crazy.” She giggles as Z'in ticks his head to the side with amusement, then continues. “All of the dream things I had during my stays on the floor, the Voice had always brought me somewhere. I kept seeing this place at first, and everything is always dark. So, as I was fainting this time – I'm so sorry if I said anything weird, I didn't feel good – But as I did, the Voice was talking to me and telling me I made a mistake...” 

Z'in nodded, seemingly enraptured by her way of explaining. “I woke up in this weird dark room, with a light shining down on me. The Voice started talking to me, like it wasn't in my head! The Voice was actually talking to me. The Voice asked if I wanted to go home. I wanted to know where it was coming from first, but the Voice got upset with me. Long story short, I asked what the Voice actually is. We had some deal where if I answered the first question, then my question would be answered, but I was given some bull crap response about 'oooo, spooky, I am everything, you are but a human'. Like I already know what I am, I wanted to know what it is. And I have a mission or something. You know what? I was told that I couldn't be with you anymore because of the stupid mission!” Delilah threw her hands up dramatically. She felt slightly disappointed that she couldn't make better sense to Z'in, she's sure that none of what she said was clear at all. 

Z'in seemed to understand enough, thankfully. He sat there patiently, as always, letting her unload her hectic experience. When she finished, Z'in nodded thoughtfully, processing everything. He moved to sit beside her and gave her a smile. “Don't have any worry. I don't have to leave if you wish me to not. I'd like to continue with you. Vria can, ah, 'deal with it'.” 

Delilah smiled back. “Great. I'd never figure my way around here if I didn't have you as a little guide!” She playfully said, poking his arm. Z'in poked her back and stood, helping her up and pointing the way they were going. “To this way, then!” He said. 

As they walked, and no daunting creatures nor dizziness threatened Delilah, she was given a chance to ponder a little more. 'So. The Voice does want me for something, but it doesn't like Z'in. I wonder why? He's kind of like a human, and doesn't really look threatening or like he'd mess things up. He's just having a blast here, from what I can tell... I wonder If there's more people I'll meet?' 

They turned into another hallway, and within a blink, everything looked so different. Delilah gasped and stopped, pulling Z'in to a halt. 

The theme of the hallway matched the rest of the identical ones, but this hallway was filled from top to bottom with doors of all shapes, sizes, colors, and even a variety of technology was present. There were electrical doors, doors that were only slabs of jelly-like walls, decorative doors and camouflaged doors, which Delilah only saw because a giant pile of small cat-like creatures came tumbling out of what used to be part of the carpet. 

Z'in began laughing, taking Delilah's attention away from the mass of entrances. She huffed and pushed at him lightly. “What's so funny? I wasn't expecting all this! Like how do you even walk through here?” Delilah said. 

“Like this.” Z'in said, grabbing onto Delilah's arm and jumping sideways, pulling her along with him. She yelped as they fell through an opening on the wall. She expected to have footing as they entered, like a normal room would provide, but instead she found them falling through another door further down the hallway... Positioned on the ceiling. Z'in pulled her in, obviously entertained as Delilah clung to him. They fell through to another, leaped out again, were thrown across the hall, and soon Delilah lost track of the path they were gravitating through. 

Soon, the two air-blown children were popped out of a gel infused door, slowing them down considerably, with limited mess, enough for them to land softly. Delilah had her eyes closed for the majority of the ride, which now opened to see where they were. Delilah sighed in utter relief, letting go of Z'in and almost stumbling. Z'in caught her, while trying to catch his own breath. 

“That... Is my best feeling... I quite enjoy the flight, don't you, Delilah?” He says breathlessly. Delilah shakes out the nausea before she replies. 

“Uh... Wow, I mean... That was one hell of a ride, I'll say that much. Thank everything that you know what you're doing, you know I wouldn't let anyone else drag me through a multi-angle fall like that!” Delilah laughed fully, in what feels like forever, and patted Z'in on the shoulder playfully. He responded by nodding with a big smile, showing his bright teeth. 

As the two exchanged pleasantries about the experience, the creatures around them seemed to slow down, and peer around fearfully. Delilah and Z'in stop smiling as the area around them darkens from the other end of the corridor, where they were previously. From where Delilah stood, she could see that the darkness was material as it floated and thinned into the air. 

“Z'in... Please tell me you know what that is...” Delilah said, her enjoyable feeling disappearing as the darkness approached the doors.

Z'in shook his head slowly, staring in that direction like everyone else was doing. “No... Never have I seen that trail. Is it to follow a person? Or is it on it's own?” He says. As he spoke, the dark trail went into the door that Z'in began with, and started falling and jumping through the same doors as they did, stretching itself across the large hall.   
The fading mist it left behind made the place look bigger, making Delilah feel small. She knew that whether it was attached to someone or not, it was going to land where they were eventually. She pulled Z'in to the side, trying to avoid contact with any of the spooked aliens. She didn't need any other creature on her tail. 

As predicted, the pinnacle of the darkness soon landed where they used to be, letting the mist gather around it's position. It felt cold now, but Delilah didn't feel the mist at all. She thought it would be like smog, but the sudden clarity as the darkness receded into it's source was astonishingly fast. Delilah searched for it as the hallway lightened back up. 'It must have control over... Whatever that stuff was. Is it dangerous?' She thought.

The mist formed around a humanoid body, covering it completely before thinning to show details. It was tall, thin, and feminine. The rest of the cloud seemingly got sucked into the persons back, which gave Delilah the impression of wings for only a split second. 

Now that the darkness was gone, the body that it stemmed from came into view. She looked... Normal. Well, Delilah's kind of normal. She had shiny black hair, thick and billowing into small curls resting against her upper back. Her shirt was collared, and her jeans were tight. Her skin was fair, but had a blueish tint to it. Her eyes were dark brown and judgmental behind thin framed glasses as she looked at all the creatures staring at her and clicking, snorting, or growling. 

All of the creatures around them still seemed scared, not moving, and staring at the supposed girl. Delilah gasped, and moved to approach her. 'Is that... A human? With powers?' She thought excitedly. Delilah has read things about manifestations and powerful humans in her universe, and in this universe, anything seems possible. What if she's from a similar world?

Z'in tugs at her arm, restricting her. He gave her an incredulous look, silently scolding her for trying to go to this devilish newcomer. Delilah felt silly about what she wanted to do, and she would probably make not-so-exaggerated despair rain down upon them for doing such a thing, but Delilah somehow knew that she needed to speak with this person. 

She hesitated, but she pulled free from Z'in and stepped forward. She coughed into the silent space, making the girl look at her, as well as the majority of the other creatures. Z'in huffed and puffed, sitting behind her and steaming again from worry. 

'God, I hope this works...'


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Delilah and Z'in have encountered what seems to be a new foe who only darkens everything in the midst of all this chaos. Delilah brings up the courage to approach them, much to Z'in's dismay. Both of them are thoroughly surprised at the outcome. As the two young beings learn more about this person and their situation, more and more things begin to reveal itself about the nature of Delilah's new environment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's kind of short, this one, but I really wanted to make a good cliffhanger y'know? Sorry for not updating, for any of those who care or actually read this!  
> Thank you if you do, and enjoy!

Delilah swallowed down her own worries and walked toward her, trying to seem as confident as possible. She resisted the urge to crouch down and curl into a ball to roll away. Delilah tried making herself feel better as she approached. 'Maybe she's not so bad... Maybe she just looks scary. Bird logic. Owl logic. Poof! I'm big, get away from me! I'm sure that's it-' 

“And what exactly do you want? What's up, wanna be the black sheep? See if you're brave?” The girl said, amplifying the last word by tugging on her chin. 'Wait, when did she get this close to me? She was across the hall!' Delilah thought. She stammered, looking into the girls eyes. 

“Uh, well, I...” She coughed, thinking of another way to start the conversation. “I just wanted to know... Who does your hair?” Delilah watched as the girl blinked, staring at her. 'Oh god oh no did I mess up what did I do she doesn't seem too-' 

The lady broke Delilah's thought with loud laughter as she threw her head back. It echoed, making some of the creatures jump a bit, Delilah saw. She waited till the woman finished laughing, staying as still as she could. 

'...Seem too upset?' She thought. 

When the laughter ceased, Delilah met her eyes once more, which seemed much more alive and entertained. “Girl, lemme tell you, I do my own hair. It's a talent, isn't it?” She grinned and popped a thin hand against Delilah's shoulder, surprising the startled human with her friendliness. The woman continues, “I like you! What's your name, girlie?” 

Delilah sighed out a relieved giggle eventually, relaxing beside her. Z'in shuffled around behind them as he contemplated what he just saw Delilah do, deciding to approach them. As he came up, Delilah smiled and said “My name is Delilah. I'm really, really glad that worked out, I almost thought you'd bite my head off!” By now, all the other aliens began to return to their schedule, deeming the three to not be important anymore.

Z'in showed up beside Delilah with a protective stance as his steam cooled. The girl ignored him for now. “No biggie. Delilah, huh? That's the most human name I've heard yet. I've gotten Dyrzanw'eh's and Bicklenorpi's, not Sally's and Sue's. It's a nice change, Delilah. I'm Kira. Nice to meet you. And your friend, here?” Kira says, finally acknowledging Z'in. 

Z'in subtly jumps, only noticed by Delilah, thankfully. He clears his throat and seems to finally relax when he sees no threat. “I'm called Ualwaezneik, as your habit of alien encounters keep on to see. You can say Z'in, for short, if you want.” He nods a greeting to her, which is politely returned. 

“Damn, and I thought I'd get away with keepin' it simple. I like the nickname, though. It's cute. So are you. No wonder Delilah keeps you around, huh?” Kira winks at Delilah, making her and Z'in blush. 

Delilah huffs and swats at Kira. “Oh stop! Z'in is just my friend, he's helping me get used to this place. I'm kind of new, here.” 

“Yeah, I can tell. You don't just walk up to a chick who springs black trails of fear and loathing behind her, right?” Kira lifts her arms in a hooked manner, making a silly 'blueh blueh' sound, then chuckles as her arms fall back down. “Impressive that a human can do that. Y'know, you're the first actual human I've seen in here, now that I think about it... You're the real thing! Aw, ain't you special?” She pinches Delilah's cheek. 

Delilah giggles and nods. “I guess I kind of am. The Voice told me that I was the only human it's chosen, really. Something about how humans aren't really all that useful, but I was super different, so yay – I guess.” 

Kira nods, grinning and leaning down to her. “So you got stuck with the Insanity too? No wonder you put your hair in a bun. I bet this monster ruined your life.” 

She gasps, but nods quickly. “Yes! It did! It made everything horrible! Oh thank everything, someone understands!” Delilah and Kira jump in feminine union, giggling about. Z'in looked on, watching and trying to remember everything, as this was a very odd occurrence. He coughed, waving a hand. 

“Ah, Delilah? May we get to move, or was there reason to approach Kira?” Z'in asked. Delilah nodded. “Oh, right! There was, actually.” 

Kira tilted her head with curiosity. “Let 'er rip, darling.” 

Delilah paused, getting her thoughts together. 'Oh. Why did I approach her? I needed something, but what was it...' She hummed, then looked up at Kira. “To be damn well honest, I don't know exactly why I did. I just felt like I needed to talk to you. I guess in a way, you looked important?” Delilah shrugged, the last part of her sentence sounding uncertain. 

Another shrug came from Kira. “Mind if I stick around for now, then? Maybe you'll find out soon enough. I don't like risking being disconnected if it might be important. Besides, the chances of me finding you again in this place? For sure, it's hard to do.” 

A wave of relief came over Delilah, suddenly. It seems that whatever she was supposed to do, she's done it. 'Maybe I just needed her. It would make sense, I guess? She's got the owl thing. That's necessary for a place filled with things like Harvest.' Delilah grinned with acceptance, but turned to Z'in. “Uh... Yeah, I mean, would you mind? I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable or feel like a third-wheel, at all.” 

Z'in paused, holding up three fingers and inspecting them. He does a little movement to see what a third wheel would be like, then shakes his head. “No, no I would not come to like that. A 'third-wheel' sounds to be... Useless.” His fins drooped slightly. 

Kira covered her mouth in a silent gasp at Z'in. “Aw, poor baby! Don't look at us like that, come on. You're her main man, I respect that. You got each other. I don't wanna be that kind of gal, y'know? I'm not about that. So here's an idea, right. How about I just tell you my room number? You can come see me whenever you want.” Kira said, bringing Z'in's ears up again. She fished into her pocket, pulling out a small bag of large seed-sized electronics. “Like, even better, here's some trinkets I dug into that we could talk with. It's kind of like a human phone, but it's an ear bud. So it's totally hidden, sh sh, secrets and stuff. That sound good?” 

Z'in took one of the ones she offered, turning it around in his palm. Delilah did the same, smiling. “Woah, this is so cool! I've always wanted one of these. It's like Bluetooth, but less annoying.” She looked at Z'in briefly, then Z'in's ears. “Hey, how are you going to wear this though? Wouldn't it be a pain to have it in your fin?” 

He flutters his ears and pokes his finger around it, then nods. “Yes. They aren't the best with contact. I can't have this, my apologies, Kira.” He hands it back to her and bows his head politely. She hums in thought before going back into her pocket, bringing out a piece of yarn. “You seem like a dude who doesn't need to even look at a hearing aid, let alone have one. So it can be a little off track. Here,” She says, handing him a string that she tied around one of the buds, making it into a necklace. “You can use it like that, can't you?” 

Z'in nods, tying the string around his neck. It was kind of tight, but loose enough to rotate and rest comfortably against his voice box, or where Delilah imagined his voice box would be. Another thing she began to wonder... 

“Hey, Kira? What rooms are you talking about, is this place like an actual hotel? I feel like it's kind of sad that I forgot all about sleep and stuff. I've been, uh, sporadically sleeping all day...” She asks. It would be sweet relief to have a room that she doesn't have to worry about aliens roaming through. 

“Oh, you haven't been shown your room yet? Damn girl, I don't know what damage this place has against humans, but that's just rude. There should be a ledger or something somewhere. In the main hall, I think. Come on, let's go look.” Kira says, motioning forward.  


They walked away from the hall filled with doors and back into the regular hallways. Delilah realized that she's definitely calmed down around all these creatures, even though the majority of them would show up in nightmares of small children at least once, she's sure. Some of them seemed ironically familiar to old fairy tales her parents used to tell her, or ripped right out of a sci-fi book her grandfather would read.  


As they walked, Z'in and Kira began talking to each other. Delilah listened in for a while, talking about something she didn't understand. She watched them, then looked around as she walked, noticing a stark difference. No other creatures were interacting. There were pockets in the walls where a creature would stand, and another one would occasionally stop by it and be given something, but everything seemed so... Still. The only excitement that Delilah has seen is when she arrived, and when Kira was emitting that black mist of hers...  


Z'in touched Delilah's shoulder to get her attention, bringing her thoughts back to now. “Delilah, we are arrived. Do you read English as well as sound it? If not, then this, 'ledger', will be a, uh, third-wheel to you unless you are hearing us.” Z'in says, commenting on her zoned out state of mind. She looks ahead of her and sees an incredibly large book, filled with symbols, letters, and some kinds of protruding parts that look like 3D handwriting.  


She looks up at Kira with confusion, who only gives back an amused smirk. “You said you do that a lot before, didn't you girlie? I hope you choose your naps wisely. This place doesn't seem to like you.” For an explanation, Kira takes the rest of the pages of the book and flips them over. The 3D parts flatten back into the page like they were a hologram, only to pop back up as the last page is revealed. They were all different, but Delilah thought that something was missing.  


“Uh, Delilah...” Z'in started. She looked up at him again and groans, knowing what he was going to say. “...There is not a space for your writing. You can't have your own room.”  


Delilah pauses, letting her expression go off again. She tightened her lips together, and sighed deeply through her nose. Could she ever get a break in this place?  
Kira was quick to respond to the growing problem. “Hey, you can bunk with me if you want! This place really does have it out for ya, so maybe it'd be best to not be... Y'know, alone...” She shrugged at the small human.  


Delilah shrugged back. “Yeah, sure. Might as well. Alright, whatever, let's just keep going. Maybe I'll get left overs during dinner next, who knows." 

Z'in's fins perked as he sniffs a bit. “I do not have a thought that you would, Delilah. Do you smell that? I believe the grown one is near.” Everyone started sniffing the air, which revealed to Delilah the most exotic of scents. 'Woah, what is that stuff? I can' t tell if it smells good or not...' She peers at Kira who practically had her tongue lolled out. 

Kira started walking toward the side of the room where the scent was most strong. Delilah and Z'in exchanged looks and followed her.  
It didn't seem like any other of the aliens were hungry which delighted Delilah. She can actually explore a little, without having her tail between her legs as she goes, wondering what she'll run into next.  


They all arrive at a door that was pouring out steam from the cracks. Kira sat up suddenly back to her usual self and turned to the younger of the three. “I've been looking all over for this door! You know it never stays in the same spot? Crazy, right? It just kind of pops around, even though dinner is always in the dining hall. That's why no one else is trying to get in.”  


'Well that answers some questions.' Delilah thinks. She motioned to the door. “By all means, let's see what's in it. From what Z'in tells me, the dude behind it seems kind of important.”  


The other two nod and Kira gleefully opens the door, hopping in and shouting about. Delilah gasps and comes in with her, trying to stop Kira from angering anybody, but she was stopped by herself once she entered. Z'in's quiet gape came up beside her as they both stared upward. Kira's yelling could still be heard echoing throughout the massive room, only making the large house size lunch counter seem even bigger to tiny human Delilah. Multiple grumbles and clanking of pots and pans could be heard above Kira's shouting, Delilah noticed.  


The source of the noises noticed he had company, and slowly emerged into view behind the display glass.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> YAAY more people are being introduced. Expect at least... Three more? Maybe? and also GR8 I finally figured out how to keep the spacing the way I fucking want it!! I need to go back and edit the other chapters. The lack of tabs is.... Disturbing.

　　　　Z’in jumped a bit, and touched Delilah’s shoulder, stared back up at the massive being then back to Delilah. “It’s the grown one!” He shaped his arms around him to signify what he was saying.  
　　　　  
　　　　Delilah giggled and nodded, looking back up and coming over where Kira was. Her demeanor reverted back to the original state they were first acquainted with, different to her sudden outburst of excitement when she saw the door.  
　　　　  
　　　　Since Kira seemed to not want to react anymore, Delilah took it into her own hands.  
　　　　  
　　　　She looked up at the pool sized pots swinging around and circled her fists around her mouth. “Hey! Are we intruding, uh, sir? Can we speak to you for a moment?”  
　　　　  
　　　　The person leaned down a bit, only showing large meat-padded torso and the bushy black mustache framing thin lips on a round face. “Eh? Whatta you doin’? The door shouldn’t a been open yet! The tiny ones always a get in here first! Bah!” Delilah held back a laugh, as this creature had the thickest Italian accent she’s ever heard, and it didn’t even sound authentic.  
　　　　  
　　　　Their shoulders shifted to lift their arms. Delilah gasped when she saw that the arms were instead octopus tentacles, and proceed to get stuck to the display glass. They scoffs and struggles to get it off while it speaks. “Well I a s’pose you lot can a stay.”  
　　　　  
　　　　A small platform lifted from the side of the case to let them come up. The three climb on and ascend, discussing what to do when they get up there.  
　　　　  
　　　　Delilah looks at Kira to explain their goal. “Okay, so… Kira, Z’in and I ran into a Harvest. Those things that suck up and destroy other aliens I guess. It almost ate me. It was intense. Z’in kicked it. But he told me that the “large one” is where those things go to, and we want to talk to the Voice-“  
　　　　  
　　　　She interrupted Delilah. “Ew! Why would you want to talk to that thing? Aren’t you super negative emoticon with it by now?”  
　　　　  
　　　　“Of course I am but I need some answers, you know?” Delilah replied.  
　　　　  
　　　　Kira nodded, the platform starting to rise. “Right. I’ll let you guys do whatever you need, then.” She winks supportively at them as they approach the large male-appearing anomaly, who Delilah still couldn’t see above their thick nose.  
　　　　  
　　　　“Well? What a ya want?” They say, placing the non-sticky side of what would be elbows down onto the counter. The floor shook and Z’in held fast, keeping Delilah steady. Kira, easily evading the vibrations by dispersing her legs into mist, steps to the side to preview over the selection for today’s meals. Z’in and Delilah exchange glances.  
　　　　  
　　　　Z’in looks up and shuffles around. “Are you, ah, where the Harvest come to?”  
　　　　  
　　　　The man looked at little Z’in for a while, a tentacle arm slowly curling upwards to clip at the counter. “What’s it to you?” He says, slight hostility in his voice.  
　　　　  
　　　　Z’in groans and looks at Delilah and motions to come closer. Delilah complies, stepping up beside him to take the speaking stick, metaphorically. “I was – We were just – Curious. Because we kinda want to know why there’s some extraterrestrial centipeedle monster shooting acid covered needles at people and devouring their insides. What I really want to know, does the owner of this place know? Does the Voice know that creatures are hurting each other here?”  
　　　　  
　　　　The big man starts to chuckle, then slaps a tentacle against his large stomach in a fit of throaty laughs. Delilah, Z’in and Kira all paused.  
　　　　  
　　　　When he stops laughing he leans down, apparently, even though Delilah still couldn’t see the top of his face. All she saw was the mustache bouncing up and down as he spoke.  
　　　　  
　　　　“Of course it a knows! Knowledge is its thing, ya see? It brags a brags a brags all day long about it!” His tentacle does a snapping mouth motion the best it could to mimic the Voice. “Mama, I have never heard a more talkative and a self-centered creature in my poor squiggly life, see….”  
　　　　  
　　　　They calmed down, seeing as their new acquaintance felt the same way about the Voice as they do, more or less.  
　　　　  
　　　　Suddenly, the big guy slams a balled up tentacle against the metal wall beside them. “I hate a it!! Bossin’ me around, tellin’ me to a get this and to a get that, for a what?? Nothing, I a tell you!!” They turns to get their arm unstuck and proceeds to get the other arm stuck as well. “Bah. It a won’t even give me a bigger room.”  
　　　　  
　　　　‘The poor dude. Just as mistreated as the rest of us. Hm… Maybe he- they? - could be useful too.’ Delilah notes, remembering how it felt when she saw Kira’s power.  
　　　　  
　　　　She shouts up at them in reply. “We’re trying to find out as much as we can about the Voice. Well at least, I am, and these two are helping me out. This thing seems pretty powerful, and in a bad sorts. We need to know how to get to it. Could you help us?”  
　　　　  
　　　　They unlatches their arms again and crosses them, making a suckling sound. “Help you, eh? Bring it down, maybe? Ha!” Their arms go up with a wide and smug grin. “I know everything about this place! You don’t a even know what kind a things I see in a room that a transport to practically every a wall! Of course I’ll a help you, little bites. Firstly, tell a me ya names. I’d like to know who my a revolutionary team shall a be!” They exclaimed, obviously excited. They even added a verbal flare to the word “revolutionary”, rolling their assumed wrist for emphasis.  
　　　　  
　　　　They all exchanged looks of their own excitement, even Kira pulled in a fist of triumph. Delilah realized that she had something going for herself, here. She was going to wreck that thing!  
　　　　  
　　　　They all line up, Kira and Z’in on either side. Kira had regained her calm and judgmental stare, and didn’t speak.  
　　　　  
　　　　Z’in shrugs and sheepishly raises a hand, intimidated by their size still. “Hello, I am called Ualwaezneik, but I also hear to Z’in. I don’t have a thought if you could actually hear my real voice, I’m not sure you could if in a position of yours.” He says, curious about how much this large person really knows.  
　　　　  
　　　　Delilah tilted her head at that thought as well, but continued with her introduction. “I’m Delilah, and kind of the captain of this group. I just want some answers about why I’m here and why the Voice is really just… So, so rude and intrusive.” She shakes her head with disappointment.  
　　　　  
　　　　They chuckle and wait for the third one to speak.  
　　　　  
　　　　Kira looks at the other two then tosses her hair. “I’m a badass demon chick named Kira, who just wants to really screw something up for the Insanity that brought me here.” She simply puts.  
　　　　  
　　　　The Chefboyardi look alike nod slowly. “Right… I get a lot of types like a you around here. I don’t think a you’re all too tough. You’ll see.” They say, waving a finger in her direction.  
　　　　  
　　　　Kira huffs, poofing slightly from offense. Delilah quietly calms pats her arm for her to calm down and looks up at them again. “I’m sure you do. So, what’s your name, big… Guy?” Delilah asks with uncertainty.  
　　　　  
　　　　They put a tentacle up to their chest with another grin. “Bah, gendered nicknames don’t a bother me. Most who think in blue and pink call a me a him. My name is…“  
　　　　  
　　　　A guttural, rumbling and loud noise erupts from his throat, causing Delilah to cover her ears. Z’in looked like he was going to burst a root and Kira had her mouth wide open.  
　　　　  
　　　　After the sound ceased, and the large man looked at them, he realized what had happened. “Oh. Oh mi a mama... So many apologies, my little ones, I forgot a how your ears worked!” His tentacles go onto his head in dismay, and clamp on tightly. He lets the bend of them hang loose for a bit. “Are you a alright?” He asks with concern, mostly at Delilah who was swaying back and forth.  
　　　　  
　　　　Kira pinches the bridge of her nose and Z’in rubs his young friends back. Delilah gripped her head and strained to stay awake, not wanting to pass out yet again and interrupt this meeting. Who knows what would happen.  
　　　　  
　　　　‘Wow, this totally isn’t fair. Why does everything have to make me pass out? This is way too overrated. Like ew. Stop.’ She thinks, leaning on Kira.  
　　　　  
　　　　Z’in looks up with a cough for attention now that Kira was taking care of Delilah. “I kind of heard it… It has the hooked shape to begin with. I mean, ah, it ‘starts with’… Uh…” The letter in mind slipped away, leaving Z’in clueless.  
　　　　  
　　　　The loud man nods and pulls off an arm to form the shape of it, a crescent moon.  
　　　　  
　　　　“You’re a thinkin’ C, friend. My name is Carl, in English. I have a many names in a many languages, but I like Carl and… The other one.” He informs them with a cough.  
　　　　  
　　　　Delilah regained enough strength to laugh out loud. “That whole thing… is just… Carl? Out of all names!” She giggles through her receding headache.  
　　　　  
　　　　The one supporting Delilah looks down at her female counterpart. “You’ve lost the title of most human name, darlin’.” They all chuckle at that.  
　　　　  
　　　　Finally, the ringing in Delilah’s head passes by. She stands on her own and shivers a bit for good measure. “Now that we all know each other a little better… What’s the plan, Carl? Do you know how we could take this thing down?”  
　　　　  
　　　　Carl taps his chin, his arm sticking then being pulled off over and over. “Hmm… I suggest, going with the flow of this place for a while. There’s a somethin’ new happening soon, a fiesta of sorts! I, of a course, am serving the grub, which I was working on before a you lot visited. Before you a take an enemy down, you have to a know the enemy, right?”  
　　　　  
　　　　He supposedly leans in again with a mischievous look about him. “You’ll know when it a starts. I suggest goin’ and a gettin’ ready!” He waves his arms toward them, the platform to take them down coming out. “Shoo, bits! We can talk a later.”  
　　　　  
　　　　They get down and out of the room, waving goodbye behind them. When they look around, they notice that the door already moved while they were talking. They were in a much bigger hall now, and a much more crowded hall.  
　　　　  
　　　　Delilah cringed at all the species surrounding them, regretting any thought related to her being used to them.  
　　　　  
　　　　‘W-well, maybe they have a nice personality…’ She thinks timidly.  
　　　　  
　　　　Kira tapped her shoulder and pointed to a small offshoot of a hallway. “Right down there are the rooms. Let’s go to my place real quick and get shaped up. I think I might have something that fits you.” Kira motioned for Z’in to follow. “What about you, Z’in? Are you gunna wear something?” Kira asks.  
　　　　  
　　　　They start to weave through the crowd sideways as the opposing mass heads for the same place. Z’in scans over himself and shakes his head. “I believe I’m okay. I don’t see to my appearance as being wrong, most other creatures don’t even have apparel.”  
　　　　  
　　　　Kira snorts unexpectedly and covers her mouth. “Hehe, good point. Then it’s just little Del who we gotta worry about then, huh?” She softly juts an elbow at Delilah, who nods in response.  
　　　　  
　　　　The group traverses through the party-goers and arrive in the residence hall. There were symbols, numbers, letters and grooves on all the doors, basically covering them. Delilah mentally compared them to those airport signs that say the same thing in different languages. Sometimes the layout designs got funky but at least everyone knew where they were going.  
　　　　  
　　　　‘Inclusion is important. I wish my school thought that way. I get yelled at for speaking Spanish outside of the actual Spanish class. Bunch of racists…’ She thought dimly.  
　　　　  
　　　　Kira brings her two new friends to her door, just as jumbled and decorative as the rest of them. She points to a cursive like indentation that didn’t really look like anything, it was just pretty to Delilah and Z’in. To Kira though, it did mean something.  
　　　　  
　　　　“This is a symbol in my language. We don’t have singular names for objects, and boy is it hard to translate and boy, if I did translate it then a single symbol could mean a whole paragraph! I just stuck to learning English rather than finishing my native tongue. Soooo much easier.” She rolls her head with that last statement, clicking the door open and inviting them in.  
　　　　  
　　　　As they enter, Delilah expected some otherworldly habitat, but instead she was invited into a regular looking studio apartment. ‘Toby had one of these before moving into our grandpa’s house.’ Delilah sighed when she thought of Toby again. Toby is probably freeze framed at rushing to the school, worried sick, half dressed...  
　　　　An image comes to mind. ‘Maybe like how some movies do freeze frames in a car... Where there’s papers flying everywhere, he’s in the middle of turning a hard left into the parking lot, spilled coffee, a cat running across the road or something... If anything, I hope that time is stopped at home. Things must be crazy.’  
　　　　  
　　　　The door closes behind her, almost snagging her baggy hoodie. Delilah looks at Z’in, who seemed pretty comfortable already, sitting on a nearby couch.  
　　　　  
　　　　Kira motions for Delilah to do the same. “Wait here chick, I’ll grab you something. Well hold up,” Kira grabs her arm and brings her to a closet, shoving her in backwards.  
　　　　  
　　　　Delilah gasped and closed her eyes, tensing as she thought it was going to be a regular sized closet, just ready for an impending panic attack.  
　　　　  
　　　　When she didn’t feel any clothes or walls hit her shoulder, she opened her eyes to a confused Kira.  
　　　　  
　　　　“Wow. Just cause I got ya in my sweet little pad, doesn’t mean I’ll flip my demon switch on you, Del. You okay?” She asks, leaning her shoulder against the wall.  
　　　　  
　　　　Delilah rolls her eyes and shakes her head, her stress-mess bouncing around. “Y-yeah, I’m fine. I’m just... Claustrophobic. I thought you were gunna put me in a.. Smaller closet. Sorry. Now, uhm, what did you want me in here for?” She asks, looking at the two rows of most likely up to date fashion on either side.  
　　　　  
　　　　“Well to get you dressed, of course! I thought it’d be rude to impose a style on a becoming young lass, so I thought it better you choose your own outfit. What’s your aesthetic? Pantsuits? Fursuits? Multi-color hook stitch? Overalls with fancy jewelry? Anime girl? What ever the hell anime is?” The demonic counterpart wasn’t even taking outfits off the hook as she spoke, letting Delilah know that she’s obviously joking around.  
　　　　  
　　　　It’s intentions worked, bringing a giggle out of the human. “I don’t think I want any of that. Anime might be cool, I mean if there’s anywhere I could be a fictional character, it’s where aliens exist, right? But no, I’ll just have a party casual get up.” Delilah looks over the clothes, and her eyes linger on a soft fabric the hue of her bedroom walls. She quickly kept going then looked back up at Kira, who had a knowing look on her face.  
　　　　  
　　　　“Do you want the swishy blue tank top, Delilah?”  
　　　　  
　　　　“...Yes, I want the swishy blue tank top, Kira.”  
　　　　  
　　　　Kira laughs quietly and takes it down, along with a loosely hanging colorful necklace and a dark blue set of jeans that went with it. She handed it to Delilah and left, lingering in the doorway. “If you see anything else, feel free to yoink at it. Half of this stuff is too small and it’s hard to find good clothes here.” She waves and closes the door, a light automatically clicking on for Delilah.  
　　　　  
　　　　Just as quick as she was put into the closet, she exits, fully dressed. Kira was rambling something with Z’in, who looked up first. He tapped at Kira politely and pointed with a smile. “That vibrant suites her very good, don’t you think, Kira?”  
　　　　  
　　　　Delilah stood, fairly confidently actually, as Kira looks over and whistles. “Damn right it does, sapling! It’s not like any of the other beings there will appreciate it like we do, but oh well. How do ya like it?” She returns the question to the teen.  
　　　　  
　　　　“You know, I don’t wear this stuff normally. I mean I have shirts and jeans and stuff like this, I really like my clothes, I just don’t get to wear it much cause of the people at school. Everything forbid that a suspected arsonist be fashionable.” She shrugs. “How about that hairbrush?”  
　　　　  
　　　　  
　　　　After the whole set up process, they each step out of the apartment. Delilah sighs happily, running her fingers through her untangled soft hair.  
　　　　  
　　　　Kira and Z’in looked about the same, but Z’in was pulling at the collar of a new jacket. It was brown, to match his current style, but it hung nicely on him. They also each got their little gadgets fixed so they could hear each other better.  
　　　　  
　　　　“Now, it’s probably going to be really loud and confusing once we get in there. Is that going to be an issue? Probably. I don’t know if we -”  
　　　　  
　　　　Before she could continue, each of their earpieces started acting up.  
　　　　  
　　　　“Hello? Hello? What is this? A bug? Is that a bug? On MY counter????” A familiar voice sounded out at each of them.  
　　　　  
　　　　Delilah tapped at hers, signaling her microphone. “Hey, Carl? No no, it’s not a bug! It’s an earpiece. How’d that get there?” She turned to Kira, her last question aimed at her.  
　　　　  
　　　　“I must’ve dropped it. I know I had a few of them, and there’s probably a hole in the bag by now. Hell, this is a happy coincidence, doesn’t he know all kinds of languages?”  
　　　　  
　　　　“Yes, yes. I do.” Their earpieces picked up on movement, gurgling noises, then finally a clear sound. “Bah, fine then! I suppose a you gonna stay there, hearing bug?? It got a stuck on my upper arm. Can you all a hear me good?”  
　　　　  
　　　　They each respond positive as they reach the ever-growing mass of party goers. Carl nods on his end of the radio. “Good. Are you all a going to the party still?”  
　　　　  
　　　　“Yes, we’re in the crowd now. What should I expect when I get in there?” Delilah asks tentatively.  
　　　　  
　　　　“It’s an adventure each a time, little voice. One thing though - Do not drink a anything in glass. Tis NOT for humans!” Carl explained.  
　　　　  
　　　　‘That’s odd.’ She thinks. She always liked glassware. It made her feel fancy. She wasn’t in any position to argue though.  
　　　　  
　　　　She’d rather not be poisoned or warped to another dimension from an acid trip or something. “Understood. No glassware. No fancifulness. What drinks can I drink?” She asks instead.  
　　　　  
　　　　“Anything else. Simple, think of it a like this: ‘if you can see the liquid before a lookin’ over the rim, then don’t a drink it or you will go dim.’ Right?” Carl says in rhyme.  
　　　　  
　　　　Kira nods. “Yeah, thanks Carl. I’m glad you said something about it, or else we’d be down a human.”  
　　　　  
　　　　Z’in didn’t seem too happy about that.  
　　　　  
　　　　Things went quiet for a while as they walked, hustled, more like it. It took a lot of concentration to not bump into one of these things, Delilah noticed. She also noticed that the line was slowing down. They must be near the check in to the party.  
　　　　  
　　　　They go with the flow and soon, they’re in with the rest of them. The group moves out of the way and further into the room. Delilah looks up in awe.  
　　　　  
　　　　Now this place was even larger than the first couple hallways! The ceilings had these intricate arches in them, designed with creatures crawling over them. Or - Wait. They aren’t designed like that. Those are creatures. Little wooden goblins.  
　　　　  
　　　　‘Oh hell, those are probably a lot bigger than they seem. Traffic light logic. Damn, traffic lights are huge.’ She rambles mentally.  
　　　　  
　　　　Pillars that the arches are connected to grow in dimension as they travel downward. As they get bigger, Delilah saw that there were stairs etched into the sides too, leading to a higher level. The pillars were too thin to hold any more stairs after the first level, but she saw more farther down the expansive room that inverted: Thinner on the bottom, growing stairwell on the top, leading to yet another level.  
　　　　‘All these attributes of the room meshed really well with each other.’ Delilah thought aimlessly.  
　　　　  
　　　　She wandered forward, still admiring, when all of a sudden she bumped into something. Fearing the worst, she backs up but bumps into someone else. She groaned and looked up, her eyes widening.  
　　　　  
　　　　She had bumped into two identical creatures, who obviously were not happy with her. They had three heads each, snarling canine heads of different mixed breeds. The middle head seemed to be the central one in charge of the trio. They shared a collar that was chained to the other, and held up the ragged cloth that covered their upper half. Their bottom half, however, morphed into the tail of a snake.  
　　　　  
　　　　‘Why the hell did I have to bump into Cerberus/Hydra love child’s knock-off brand now...?’  
　　　　  
　　　　The one on the left of her lifted it’s snout, snarling and raising it’s claws. The one on the right quickly refrained him, yanking on the chain. Delilah spun her head around during the distraction to look for her friends, who seemed to have continued on without her whether they knew it or not.  
　　　　  
　　　　Suddenly, there was a large paw in front of her face, flexing long nails. It belonged to the Right Barkbeast. He growled lowly, leaning toward her.  
　　　　  
　　　　“Grr.... What is a human doing here, at a superiors affair? Don’t you know how many of us would like to consume you? Even then, maybe you’re not worth it!”  
　　　　  
　　　　Delilah took deep breaths, trying to remain calm. It would only fuel this creatures anger towards her. Sure, she realized that people here didn’t think the most of humans, but... ‘Wait, no, this makes sense. Some of these species... Are racists. But just, in a universal sense? Oh shit. I’m so screwed.’  
　　　　  
　　　　Her fear from all those school days filled with harassment came back to her. She wasn’t safe here. There wasn’t any teachers, loved ones, strangers, nor policemen to help her. She didn’t even know where Z’in or Kira was, let alone anyone who could save her from becoming food for the unhinged jaw of these doggies. If she was hated as much as she knew she was, running and making a fuss would only make more become interested in hurting her.  
　　　　  
　　　　‘I think they were all just waiting to see who would start first...’ She cringes.  
　　　　  
　　　　The Left one begins barking, snarling, and chomping in her direction, all three heads roving around in an undesirably nasty way. The Right one doesn’t even stop him, he joins him, in fact, getting closer and closer to her.  
　　　　She backs up quickly, tears quickly filling her eyes as she coughs out overwhelmed sobs.  
　　　　  
　　　　“I’m gunna die, and there’s nothing I can do!!” She yells out, hitting her lower back hard against a table corner. She stiffens up from hitting a pressure point, collapsing onto her knees as she stared into the dirty mouths of her attackers.  
　　　　  
　　　　She closes her eyes and covers her face, waiting for her inevitable torment.  
　　　　  
　　　　When it was more delayed than she thought it should be, she opens her eyes slowly. The tears and the dim lighting only revealed a large mass holding the thick necks of these two monsters, rendering them silent. She let out a long sigh of air before passing out, the last thing she sees is the leg of a stone creature.


End file.
